Take a Look at the Past, the Present, and the Future

Emma Mullin as the Ghost of Christmas Past (left) and Michael Chobanoff as Ebenezer Scrooge (right) in A Christmas Carol: the Musical at Lake Country Playhouse. Photo credit: Jim Baker.

A review of A Christmas Carol: the Musical

by Lucia E. Schrader, age 10 1/2

Do you like to watch live musicals? Do you like the movie A Christmas Carol? Combine those two questions and you’ll get a live musical production of A Christmas Carol: the Musical! On November 28, 2025, I watched Lake Country Playhouse’s 15th annual production of A Christmas Carol: the Musical… and it was even better than the movie!! (Even though there were no Muppets!)

In the musical, three ghosts visited the wealthy and selfish main character, Ebenezer Scrooge (Michael Chobanoff), during the night. Who were the ghosts? Why did they come? Well, I can answer both of those questions! They came because Mr. Scrooge had been acting like a selfish and uncaring person, so the three ghosts came to help him change his ways before it was too late.

The first ghost that visited Mr. Scrooge was the Ghost of Christmas Past, played by Emma Mullin. She was in charge of making sure that Scrooge saw how he had behaved in the past, so he’d change his behavior. Her costume was flowy and magical, and she even had lights on the hood of her special cloak. The costumes/props designers (Nancy Hurd, Sharon Jahneke, and Paula Norwig) all did a beautiful job! That costume was my favorite costume in the whole musical.

The second ghost that visited was the Ghost of Christmas Present, played by Max Levine. He was very very very happy. He was laughing a lot. He sprinkled this confetti and sparkles around the stage to show the next scene! And he was also dancing around the stage and trying to cheer people up—especially Mr. Scrooge! He reminds me of someone I know and love: ME! He was helping Ebenezer see himself acting the way he does. 

Finally, the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come (played by Jeffrey Seelig) visited Mr. Scrooge. This ghost was very serious and a bit spooky. Without saying a word, this ghost showed Mr. Scrooge that if he kept acting selfish and rude, both he and Tiny Tim would not survive.

After all three ghosts left, Scrooge changed his attitude and became more delightful, like not saying “Bah, humbug!” to every person who says Merry Christmas to him. That’s my favorite part of the musical.

One of my favorite characters was Tiny Tim, played by Vada Potteiger, who was a really good actor! I think she was just like Tiny Tim in the movie. Also the other characters in the musical were like their characters in the movie! For example, the Ghost of Christmas Past was moving like how a ghost would move.

The lighting designer, Max Levine, did a great job! The background lights were so nice to see. They matched the scenes so perfectly! The lights were some different colors (especially with the Ghost of Christmas Present!) but a lot of times they were yellow. There were some hidden designs on the walls that were mostly used for the Ghost of Christmas Future. Like when Tiny Tim died, we just saw a stool and his crutch. He didn’t actually die though, phew! 

The entire musical was exciting to watch, and if I could, I’d give it five stars! I recommend everyone go see A Christmas Carol: the Musical at Lake Country Playhouse! If you make it a yearly Christmas tradition, maybe you won’t have to have three ghosts haunt you during the night!