Mr. Dickens is Coming to Town! is a passion project for playwright, filmmaker & journalist Johanna Beale Keller.

The story was inspired by an article she read a few years ago in the Post-Standard (Syracuse.com), written by Robert Searing, Curator of History at the Onondaga Historical Association.

She commented: The idea that in 1868, Charles Dickens—at that time the most famous living author—came to tour Upstate New York was so exciting. There is drama in the story: apparently, he didn’t like our little towns! And there’s also an intriguing mystery element. I was a Dickens fan when I was a child, and as soon as I read Bob’s excellent article, I imagined there were children in 1868 who, just like me, loved his books, including “A Christmas Carol.” And I knew what I needed to write next!

For the past two decades, Upstate New York has been my beloved home, she said. It’s a quirky place with fascinating history, great people and buckets of artistic talent! This story shows how easy it is to underestimate this region. But, as in so many of Dickens’s stories, this drama is also about how the wisdom of young people can remind us to hold tight to our most important values.