Sacramento gets one of the most beloved stories in the English language dressed up in full Broadway regalia this December. A Christmas Carol, the musical adaptation with a score by Alan Menken and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, runs at the UC Davis Health Pavilion December 11 through 20, 2026. Twelve performances, two and a half weeks before Christmas—the timing is as deliberate as Scrooge’s ledger entries.
This isn’t community theater. Menken is the composer behind Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, and Little Shop of Horrors. Ahrens wrote the lyrics for Ragtime, Seussical, and Once on This Island. Their version of Dickens’ story has been described as a spectacular reinvention—familiar enough to feel like tradition, theatrical enough to feel like an event.
What It Is
Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol in 1843. The story of Ebenezer Scrooge—a miserly businessman visited by three spirits on Christmas Eve—has been adapted for stage and screen more times than most people can count. But a Broadway-caliber musical adaptation is something different from the versions that cycle through local stages every December.
Broadway Sacramento, the organization that brought Hamilton, Wicked, and Les Misérables to Sacramento over the years, is presenting this production as part of its season at the UC Davis Health Pavilion. The venue itself—the tent theater on Community Center Plaza—is one of Sacramento’s more unusual performance spaces: intimate by Broadway standards, but with strong sightlines from almost every seat.
The Menken-Ahrens score means the show leans hard into its musical roots. Expect full orchestration, ensemble numbers, and the kind of production values that justify a matinee on a December afternoon.
Practical Details
The run is compact—ten days, twelve performances. There are no performances Monday or Tuesday, and shows happen either at 1:30 PM (matinees) or 7:30 PM (evenings). Here’s the full schedule:
- Friday, December 11 at 7:30 PM (Open Captioned)
- Saturday, December 12 at 1:30 PM and 7:30 PM
- Sunday, December 13 at 1:30 PM
- Wednesday, December 16 at 1:30 PM and 7:30 PM
- Thursday, December 17 at 1:30 PM and 7:30 PM
- Friday, December 18 at 7:30 PM
- Saturday, December 19 at 1:30 PM and 7:30 PM
- Sunday, December 20 at 1:30 PM (Sign Interpreted)
Tickets are on sale now. The box office is at 1419 H Street, Sacramento, and is open Monday through Saturday, noon to 5 PM. Phone: (916) 557-1999. Individual performance tickets are available at broadwaysacramento.com.
Two performances have designated accessibility features: the opening night show on December 11 is open captioned, and the final performance on December 20 is sign interpreted.
The Details
- What: A Christmas Carol — the Broadway musical, music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens
- Where: UC Davis Health Pavilion, 1419 H Street, Sacramento, CA 95814
- When: December 11–20, 2026; 12 performances
- Showtimes: Matinees at 1:30 PM; evening shows at 7:30 PM
- Tickets: broadwaysacramento.com or call (916) 557-1999
- Box office hours: Monday–Saturday, noon–5 PM
- Accessibility: Open captioned Dec 11 at 7:30 PM; sign interpreted Dec 20 at 1:30 PM
Worth Knowing Before You Go
The UC Davis Health Pavilion is an outdoor tent structure. December temperatures in Sacramento can drop into the 40s in the evenings, so a jacket is practical even though the venue is covered. The 1419 H Street address is the Broadway Sacramento box office, adjacent to the pavilion on Community Center Plaza.
If you’re making a night of it, the run overlaps with the downtown Sacramento ice rink season and the lighted boat parade on the Sacramento River. A weeknight matinee in mid-December—December 16 or 17 at 1:30 PM—offers the most flexibility for dinner afterward in Midtown or downtown before the holiday rush fully sets in.
This show runs shorter than most Broadway Sacramento productions, which means the December 20 closing date comes quickly. Anyone who’s been waiting for a good reason to see a musical downtown this winter won’t get a second chance once the run ends three days before Christmas Eve.
Bottom Line
Broadway Sacramento’s A Christmas Carol at UC Davis Health Pavilion is the kind of event Sacramento gets sporadically: a professional Broadway production staged locally, timed to the holiday season, with enough performances to accommodate actual scheduling. The Menken score makes it more than a nostalgia vehicle. Tickets are on sale now and the run is short—twelve shows across ten days.
Looking for more holiday theater in Sacramento? The B Street Theatre holiday shows open in December with two new plays, and the Sacramento Ballet Nutcracker is another holiday classic worth booking. For the full picture of what’s happening around town this season, the Sacramento Christmas events guide covers the rest.
