From left, Matt Leslie, Deanna Sparrow and Phillip Ball rehearse for the Hobnob Theatre Company's show, “Mr. Bob Cratchit’s Merry Christmas Carol Sing-Along and Variety Show,” which premieres Dec. 22 at Butler's historic Penn Theater. Submitted Photo

The Hobnob Theatre Company will premiere “Mr. Bob Cratchit’s Merry Christmas Carol Sing-Along and Variety Show” on Dec. 22 and 23 at the Penn Theater in Butler.

The company, which is based in Butler, describes the show as an “entertaining retelling” of the Dickens classic “A Christmas Carol.” It stars Deanna Sparrow, Matt Leslie and Phillip Ball.

Sparrow also wrote the show, alongside the company’s artistic director, Ken Smith. Ken’s wife, managing director Elizabeth Smith, is the producer.

This marks the first public gathering for the newly-refurbished Penn Theater, which has undergone an extensive renovation project for the past few months. The former movie house opened its doors for its first event last month — a private, invite-only gathering to show off the progress of the restoration.

“The renovated Penn is beautiful. It's going to be a wonderful venue for whatever they have planned,” Elizabeth said. “We’re thrilled to be performing there as the first public gathering. I think that people are going to really like what they see in the production, but I also think they're going to really love being inside the Penn Theater watching it.”

There is one performance scheduled for Friday night at 7:30 p.m., and two shows scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

As of Wednesday evening, two of the three scheduled shows are sold out, but there are tickets remaining for the matinee show on Saturday, Dec. 23.