Performances will be held Dec. 19-21 at St. John's Lutheran Church.

Adam's Gifts will star William Parry (Gypsy, Sunday In The Park with George, Passion), Maureen Silliman (Is There Life After High School?, I Remember Mama, Shenandoah) and Philip Hoffman (Into The Woods, Is There Life After High School?, Falsettos). The cast also includes Julia Peterson and Hayden Wall.

Here's how the production is billed: "In a seasonal riff on Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol,' Adam's Gifts is a story of redemption and the heart-melting surprise of feeling needed."

"When you're a theater critic, you see A Christmas Carol quite a bit in December," Filichia said in a statement. "There's always one extravaganza, one musical, one solo-show and almost always one update where there's an Ebenezer Scrooge (or even an Eleanor Scrooge) living in the present day. And yet nobody in the update says, 'Hey, you've got the same name as that Dickens character.' I wondered if there were any way to update A Christmas Carol where this wouldn't be an issue. Once I started thinking along those lines, I envisioned a character who isn't named Scrooge and an entirely new plot in which the arts makes this old man a better person."

Filichia is the theatre critic emeritus for both the Newark Star-Ledger and its television station, News 12 New Jersey. He writes a weekly column for Musical Theatre International. Tickets are free with a donation to St. John's at the door. To reserve seats, e-mail [email protected].