James Joyce's The Dead, the 2000 Tony Award-winning musical, extended its Bay Area premiere but now must close Dec. 2 at San Francisco's American Conservatory Theatre to make room for the annual production of A Christmas Carol, begining Dec. 8. Richard Nelson (Goodnight Children Everywhere, Madame Melville) directs The Dead in San Francisco as he did Off-Broadway and on Broadway.

Based on the best-known short story from the collection "Dubliners," The Dead is an intimate musical, concerned with the small lives of husband and wife Gabriel and Gretta, whose solid relationship is suddenly disturbed by her tender remembrances of a past lover at a family Christmas party. Although the young man is long buried, Gabriel finds himself unhappily contemplating life and love "as the snow falls on the living and the dead."

Nelson won a Tony Award for his book to the musical. Composer Shaun Davey and Nelson used Irish poetry, including pieces by Joyce himself, and the influence of tradiational Irish folk music to create the score.

Sean Cullen is Gabriel Conroy with Kate Kearney-Patch as his wife Gretta. Also in the cast are Alice Cannon, Patricia Kilgarriff, Paddy Croft, Paul Anthony McGrane and Shay Duffin.

Performances of The Dead at the Geary Theatre were to have ended Nov. 25. For ticket information, call (415) 749-2250. American Conservatory Theatre is located at 415 Geary Street. American Conservatory Theatre is on the web at http://www.act-sfbay.org.