A Tale of Two Cities Tickets

About A Tale of Two Cities

A Tale of Two Cities is based on the 1859 novel by Charles Dickens and covers the historical era of the years before the French revolution as well as the first several years of the revolution. It is a story about how oppression caused by the aristocracy of the country led to revolution only to be followed by retaliation once the uprising gained ground. This tale of life and death situations during a time of great national turmoil combined with the personal struggles found by the individual characters is well known to readers of Dickens. The story is one of his most well known; indeed, the phrase "a tale of two cities" has entered popular culture.

The novel A Tale of Two Cities has been adapted into many formats. It has been the subject of three silent films and two "talkies": a 1935 and a 1958 version. It was adapted to a 6-hour radio drama in 1989 by the BBC. Finally, it has been adapted into numerous television movies. In the stage world, the novel has been adapted twice before, for a 1984 production in Japan and a 2006 adaptation that focused on the Russian revolution. The Broadway version of the musical first played in Sarasota, Florida, in 2007 and then opened on Broadway in September 2008.

In the story, Charles Darnay is a former French aristocrat who denounces his family's oppression of the peasants and moves to London, England. When he is tried on trumped up charges of treason to England, he is defended by Sydney Carton and is later acquitted. Carton is an English lawyer who has spent his life as an alcoholic and grows to despair it. He also happens to look nearly identical to Darnay. Lucie Manette plays Darnay's love interest who is forced to testify against Darnay at the trial and is also pursued by Carton, though a romantic relationship between the two never materializes. Later, Darnay is forced to return to revolution-torn Paris, France, after getting a plea to save Gabelle, a postman and friend of Darnay's. He is captured by the revolutionaries, tried, and condemned to die in a guilt-by-association indictment. However, Carton is able to successfully take Darnay's place, and saves his life.

A Tale of Two Cities - Links

A Tale of Two Cities - What Critics Say

• "A Tale of Two Cities is, to use one of its signature songs, a 'Dream Come True'" - New York Theatre Guide
• "The action is vigorous and emotionally affecting." - The Times Herald-Record
• "Charles Dickens was a master magician whose greatest feat was the grand illusion created in the pages of A Tale Of Two Cities, and Jill Santoriello's musical has not only recreated that sleight-of-hand, it is guilty of a far less obvious magic: to take a classic novel, long buried under scholarship and praise, and recall it to life." - NYC.com

A Tale of Two Cities - What Fans Say

• "Tale is a simply a well put together smooth, captivating show."
• "The story is fantastic, the sets, music, lighting, singing -- it was all superb."
• "This play was without a doubt one of the very best plays I have ever seen."