Orlando Actors to take center stage at SPIRIT: On Tour with A Christmas Carol premiere in Ocoee
Join the world premiere of a documentary adventure following the cast and crew of a Christmas Carol national tour across the country.
SPIRIT: On Tour with A Christmas Carol, directed by AJ Jones and presented by Entertainment Central Productions, is ready for the big screen, and the world premiere is set to take place in Ocoee on Sunday, November 8, 2026.
Directed and produced by filmmaker and actor AJ Jones, the documentary follows a company of actors, musicians and technicians attempting to prepare a national tour in just 12 days. Their assignment: perform 20 shows in 25 days, traveling 7,600 miles and reaching 20,000 audience members.
What audiences see is the finished performance. SPIRIT reveals everything it takes to get there: hurried rehearsals, unexpected cast changes, technical failures, long drives and the exhaustion of delivering Christmas cheer night after night while spending weeks away from home.
Join the cast, filmmakers, theatre fans, Christmas enthusiasts, friends, and family for this special world premiere screening at West Orange Cinema,1575 Maguire Rd. Ocoee on Sunday, November 8.
TICKETS:
Viewers can watch SPIRIT: On Tour with A Christmas Carol on pay-per-view through Amazon beginning November 17.
At the center of the documentary are three personal journeys. Cody Taylor, an actor from Lexington, Kentucky, steps into his first leading role as Ebenezer Scrooge, carrying both the physical demands of the production and the responsibility of making a familiar character feel human. Shanna Stoker Henson returns to performing after years away and three surgeries for endometriosis, wondering whether she can withstand the demands of the road.
Stage manager Jeff Brozovich ('Broz') works to hold the production together, navigating the countless decisions audiences never see. Also anchoring the cast is actor and popular theatre-focused content creator, Gideon McManus, who has more than 3 million followers on TikTok and Instagram.
The challenges arrive early. When the actor playing Jacob Marley leaves because of a family emergency, the company must scramble to fill the role. After another replacement fails to work out, David Casey, the director of the play, steps in himself, helping save the show ahead of a major performance at Dickens on The Strand in Galveston, Texas.
Marley, Scrooge's deceased business partner, returns as a ghost to warn his former partner against repeating his mistakes and to announce the visits of three spirits. Offstage, David shares another family connection: he is the stepfather of Jeremy James, executive producer of the film and owner of Entertainment Central Productions, the company behind the tour.
'Audiences buy a ticket to see A Christmas Carol, and it's our responsibility to deliver that experience, whatever challenges arise behind the curtain,' said James. 'When David stepped into the role of Jacob Marley, he helped keep that promise. SPIRIT gives audiences a chance to meet the people whose commitment makes this production possible.'
For Jones, who traveled with the company through rehearsals, performances, van rides and hotel stays, the film became an exploration of what keeps theater artists coming back despite the sacrifices their work requires.
'I watched people struggle, laugh, get frustrated, adapt, and take care of one another,' Jones writes in his director's note. 'I watched a group of individuals become a family because they had chosen to build something together.'
SPIRIT marks Jones' second feature film as a director. His directorial debut, The Curse of La Patasola, follows two couples whose camping trip becomes a fight for survival when they encounter a terrifying creature drawn from Colombian folklore. Jones directed, co-wrote and starred in the supernatural horror film, distributed by Vertical Entertainment, which ScreenRant ranked No. 1 on its list of '10 Best Horror Movies Based on Latin American Folklore.'
Produced by Entertainment Central Productions and distributed internationally by Bayview Entertainment, SPIRIT: On Tour with A Christmas Carol is a 109-minute documentary that will launch with a planned world premiere in Orlando at The West Orange Cinema at 12:30 pm on November h, followed by premiere events in Los Angeles and New York.
To watch SPIRIT: On Tour with A Christmas Carol on pay-per-view, visit Amazon beginning November 17th. For the trailer and additional information, visit https://spiritthedoc.com/.
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