A Christmas Carol Rehearsal Reflection.
Each season at The Seeing Place, our rehearsal room teaches us something new.
Sometimes it’s about storytelling or stagecraft. Other times, it’s about the heart.
As we prepare A Christmas Carol, The Musical, one line from the Ghost of Christmas Present has been echoing through my mind.
There’s a moment in the song “Abundance and Charity” when the Ghost of Christmas Present (played beautifully by Abbie Mejia) sings to Scrooge:
“There’s a joyful spirit in your heart! My friend, that spirit’s mine.
Life’s a ball, and I’m your ticket!”
As I was choreographing the song this weekend, that line stopped me.
Because if I’m honest, it’s easy to live almost anywhere but in the present. My thoughts wander to what went wrong yesterday or what might go wrong tomorrow. But the Present . . . this moment right here is where joy actually lives.
If we could slow down enough to notice it, we might realize how much good already surrounds us:
- the laughter echoing through our days,
- the autumn light spilling through the windows,
- the small, ordinary graces that make up a good life.
The Present is where JOY Lives.
A few mornings ago, I was reading about what one author calls the divided heart. He describes how pain, worry, and distraction can keep us from living in the present. We mean to be in the here and now, but the weight of the past or the pull of the future divides our focus. When our hearts are divided, even joy has trouble taking root.
That’s the quiet brilliance of A Christmas Carol.
It isn’t just about Scrooge finding generosity.
It’s about learning to live whole again.
To let go of the ghosts of what was and the fears of what’s next, and to return fully to the present.
Abbie Mejia as The Ghost of Christmas Present in A Christmas Carol
And maybe that’s the real invitation of this story:
- to reconnect to the joyful spirit that’s already in us,
- to remember that “life’s a ball,” and that the Present is our ticket back to it.
ERIKA BAIN
Director of A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol comes to The Seeing Place this December 2025.
Tickets are going fast, so please don’t miss your chance to
live in the Present and discover the beauty of this story told through song.
To get your tickets for December 5-7, click here or call 910-548-6323.