Ebenezer's Make Over - Peter Alsop

Synopsis

‘Ebenezer's Make Over’ borrows the bones of ‘A Christmas Carol’’ as three Spirits and their attending ghosts school Scrooge about how his mean-spirit has done damage to himself and to the people around him.

He lives unaware he’s haunted by his closed-off emotions; his contempt for women and vulnerability, and the damage done to him under the full weight of his patriarchal socialization. He spends a nightmarish night with spirits that hold up songs and mirrors for him to see who he has become.

The Spirit of the Past shows him where his attitudes came from: the specific childhood moments when he learned that “being a man” meant shutting down parts of himself. The Spirit of the Present shows him the cost: the relationships he's broken, the alternatives he keeps refusing. The Spirit of the Future shows him what happens to him and to our world if nothing changes.

This show is not about Christmas. The score is drawn from 50 years of folk, feminist, and social justice songwriting: Holly Near, Charlie Murphy, Joe Jencks, Geof Morgan, Peter Alsop and others. And the songs aren't decoration. They carry the argument. Every performance at The Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga ended with a lively deep talk-back, with the audience, cast, and guests in open conversation about what they'd just seen.

Funny, pointed, clever and built for people who want and need to talk about it afterward.

Quotations

Stephen Powers - Music Industry Executive
“Wow! Brilliant! Wise and funny with social impact!!”

Chloe Chapman - reviewer Topanga New Times
“I just saw your show and it was fantastic. It was so incredibly powerful to see the impact it had on the whole audience.”

Bryan & Karen Rowley, Mother and Childcare Director
“These songs deal with real life issues, ... codependency, and all that baggage we brought from childhood that all of us have and that we pass on to our generations, and we’re trying to stop those vicious cycles, ... real important!”

Dr. James Wilson - Professor Theatre & Performance Program, The Graduate Center--CUNY
“It's wonderful! The writing is smart and incisive around issues of gender, sexuality, and acceptance of difference, but it never comes across as preachy or flip.”

Key Team Credits

Written & Directed by Peter Alsop

Scrooge: Lynn Robert Berg - Jacob Marley: Alan Blumenfeld
Bob, Spirit of the Past: Christopher Glenn Gilstrap - Narrator: Ellen Geer
Carroll, Spirit of the Present: Gerald C. Rivers - Mr. Darby: Peter Alsop

Songs by: Holly Near, Peter Alsop, Charlie Murphy, Geof Morgan, Joe Jencks, Amy Fix, Fred Small, Tedd Judd, Ron Romanovsky, Tom Hunter, Bob Blue

Premiered: May 2025, Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum, Topanga, CA
Also presented at: NOMAS (Nat’l. Org. of Men Against Sexism), Nat’l. Conference, July 2025

Producer/Project Lead: Peter Alsop
Production: Liz Dubelman