Ghosts of Christmas Past NYC Reviews and Tickets

78%

(29 Reviews)

Positive

79%

Mixed

21%

Negative

Members say

Entertaining, Slow, Great acting, Clever, Absorbing

About the Show

Radiotheatre presents its annual telling of yuletide hauntings set in downtown Manhattan. Stories are performed like an old-fashioned radio show, with orchestral music and sound effects.

Escape the blustery winds of winter and enter into the spectral shadows of St. John's Sanctuary, which has sat quietly for 190 years in the heart of historical Greenwich Village. But now, lit by flickering candlelight and bathed in ghostly mist, the Radiotheatre players bring the building to life, hoping to warm your cockles or perhaps chill the marrow in your bones with scary seasonal stories. Different tales are shared at every performance. See the show's website for the complete schedule.

Member Reviews (29)

Clever, Resonant, Edgy, Melodramatic

See it if you enjoy scary stories dramatically told. Radiotheater specializes in effective dramatic readings with sound effects, music and lighting.

Don't see it if you are expecting a full theatrical production. Of the 5 stories 4 lack satisfying conclusions although all are well told.

Disappointing, Great concept, Slow, Stilted

See it if You want to hear Christmas ghost stories told in an atmospheric setting. You enjoy radio-style stories.

Don't see it if You want to hear interesting stories with well-developed characters. You want ghost stories w/a surprising, spooky twist at the end. Read more

Church setting is perfect venue., Good use of music, lights and sfx, Nicely staged and performed., Stories are disappointing.

See it if You like actors reading from a script at podium, enjoy listening to radio drama, want to see a little something different, like the idea.

Don't see it if You want really scary stories, or unpredictable tales of the supernatural. The tales themselves, tho well-performed, were dull/led nowhere.

Clever, Ambitious, Quirky, Slow, Refreshing

See it if You like old radio dramas. The actors voices are great, the church is a good venue for something like this as far as acoustics go.

Don't see it if You don't like freezing in a church, or hard pews as seats, and you need movement to be entertained. Some of the stories bored me.

Excellent storytelling, Magnificent voices, Superbly mounted, Geared to a family audience, Rather tame / not scary

See it if looking to relive the glory days of radio theatre, you require a non threatening theatre experience with no real scares or surprises

Don't see it if the 21st century requires you to seek thrills or participation in your theatre experience & not savor the favors of a show well done

Old-fashioned, Charming, Enjoyable, Cliched, Fun

See it if you'd enjoy hokey throwback ghost stories that aren't particularly scary, but fun nonetheless.

Don't see it if you require something less quaint in your entertainment experience.

100

Clever, Enchanting, Great acting, Must see, Refreshing

See it if you appreciate melodramatic radio drama and dramatic readings with minimal visuals delivered expertly by a talented and attractive cast

Don't see it if you prefer musicals, comedy, extravagant sets and costumes or on stage dancing or other action and seek profound intellectual content

Banal, Slow, Disappointing, Dated

See it if you like "gentle" horror and harmless ghost stories not based on history.

Don't see it if If you're looking for a real scare or truly creepy stories.

Critic Reviews (2)

For a previous production

"A unique holiday show that resurrects the art of live Christmas storytelling...Their approach utilizes storytelling, enhanced by a musical score, sound effects, and minimal visuals...I would have enjoyed more of the Dickens since those phantoms are meant to truly terrify...Although I was expecting more chills with the spectral visitors, it was a novel way to experience storytelling and old fashioned entertainment."
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For a previous production

"Radiotheatre features fine actors who have clearly studied the style: acting with only their voices, facial expressions, a few hand gestures at most, and supported only by shafts of light that let us see their faces, with meticulously arranged and timed music and sound effects to stretch and heighten the tension. And tension is what drives this particular set of tales...It’s radio acting at its lush best: thrillingly, terrifyingly overblown while at the same time precisely calibrated."
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