Lyrics

SCENE FIVE: SCROOGE'S BEDROOM. NIGHT (SCROOGE tosses and turns in bed, when suddenly the clock strikes one. All the curtains billow and blow, as the GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST rises up through the bed. The GHOST looks strangely like the LAMPLIGHTER who accosted SCROOOGE on the street, only he has a light emanating from his head.) SCROOGE What the devil...? GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST Oops! Hello (The GHOST jumps down) SCROOGE Who are you? GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST I'm the Ghost of Christmas Past! (The GHOST sits on the bed next to SCROOGE and opens a book) IT'S YOUR LUCKY NIGHT! BOUGHT YOU SOMETHING BRIGHT! SOMETHING WITH A TWINKLE AND A GLOW TO REMEMBER THE LIGHTS OF LONG AGO REMEMBER THE LIGHTS OF LONG AGO (The GHOST gives SCROOGE a glimmering orb) GLIMMERS IN THE DARK! HERE AND THERE A SPARK! SUDDENLY A PICTURE STARTS TO GROW COME REMEMBER THE LIGHTS OF LONG AGO REMEMBER THE LIGHTS OF LONG AGO A CHILD! (Lights come up on SCROOGE at 8 near the Law Courts) IS THIS WHO YOU USED TO BE? A SCENE! SHINING FROM YOUR PAST THE VAST VISTAS OF YOUR MEMORY (FOUR ACOLYTES come in from the bedroom) THE SHADOWS YOU CAST MR SCROOGE, HOLD FAST... (Suddenly, without warning, the GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST, grabs SCROOGE by the hand, and they fly out of the window, into the midnight sky) ONWARD THROUGH THE NIGHT ONWARD TOWARD THE LIGHT ONWARD TO A PLACE YOUR HEART WILL KNOW COME REMEMBER THE LIGHTS OF LONG AGO REMEMBER THE LIGHTS OF LONG AGO SCENE SIX THE LAW COURTS (The first of a series of tableaux in which SCROOGE revisits his past) JUDGE John William Scrooge, you will go to prison for none – payment of debts. Three years! Next case! FAN AT 8, SCROOGE AT 8 Father, Father! SCROOGE'S MOTHER: No, no! How will we live? Where will we go? SCROOGE'S FATHER: (Being dragged away by two JAILERS) Learn this lesson, Ebenezer! Save your pennies! Make your fortune and keep it! SCROOGE Father! That's my father! SCROOGE'S MOTHER, FAN AT 6 LET THE STARS IN THE SKY REMIND US OF MAN'S COMPASSION LET US LOVE TILL E DIE AND GOD BLESS US EVERYONE SCROOGE Mother!! GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST Poor little Ebenezer Ah, what a black day. Your mother died soon after, you and your sister were separated... POOR, PATHETIC LAD! NO MORE MUM OR DAD! NOT A BIT OF JOY OR MISTLETOE TO REMEMBER THE LIGHTS OF LONG AGO REMEMBER THE LIGHTS OF LONG AGO SCENE SEVEN A FACTORY, NEAR A GIANT MACHINE The Second Tableau (We see YOUNG SCROOGE who is now at 12 making boots. MR. HAWKINS, the factory owner, is paying wages to the workers. The last person to be paid is SCROOGE) MR. HAWKINS (To boy worker) Here's your pay my boy! (To other workers) Merry Christmas! BOY WORKER (Receiving pay) Thank you, Mr Hawkins A MOTHER (Exiting) Happy Christmas, Ebenezer! MR. HAWKINS Here's your pay, Ebenezer. Don't spend it all at once! SCROOGE AT 12 No, I shan't thank you. I intend to make my fortune and keep it MR. HAWKINS Well, happy Christmas, my boy! (SCROOGE AT 12 takes his pen and begins writing a letter. We see FAN AT 10 reading it) SCROOGE AT 12 My dear Sister Fan, I've been living and working in this terrible place for six months (MR. HAWKINS and CLERK laugh loudly and exit) I miss you terribly. I often remember the way things used to be "A PLACE CALLED HOME" THERE'S A PLACE CALLED HOME I CAN ALMOST SEE WITH A RED FRONT DOOR AND A ROARING FIRE AND A CHRISTMAS TREE IT'S A PLACE CALLED HOME THAT IS STILL CAN TRAVE; TO FAN AT 10 IT'S THE PLACE IN MY HEART WHERE I STILL COME HOME TO YOU (SCROOGE signs the letter) SCROOGE Fan! SCROOGE AT 12 Merry Christmas. Don't forget me. Your loving brother, Ebenezer (He looks out the window, toward his future, sadly) SCROOGE, SCROOGE AT 12 JUST A PLACE IN MY HEART I CAN STILL COME HOME TO YOU GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST The years flew by. Fan married, then, died in childbirth. Lights out on poor Fan! But her child survived SCROOGE Hmmm. My nephew, Fred. Yes, he survived, and my sister died. I don't see him. Why are you showing me these miserable moments? Let me go! GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST To understand the present. Learn from the past!