To call A Christmas Carol a great holiday show isn’t fair. Director Joel Ferrell has made sure that this year’s version of the Dallas Theater Center’s annual production isn’t weighed down by seasonal clichés or syrupy sentiments. Dickens subtitled the play “A Ghost Story of Christmas,” after all, and the scary bits effectively bring about jumps and shrieks. But the show strikes the right balance between frightening, heart-warming, heart-wrenching, and funny, making it much more than a flat holiday offering. This A Christmas Carol isn’t a great holiday show—it’s a great show, period.
The freshness comes largely from the cast, all of whom are playing their roles for the first time at the DTC. Former company member Kurt Rhoads glowers and grumbles through Ebenezer Scrooge’s nighttime journeys, but manages to find the wry humor—where appropriate—in Dickens’ dialogue (adapted for the stage by Richard Hellesen). The other cast members play multiple roles, but it’s clear that some characters resonate more with the actors than others.
Lee Trull presents a straightforward take on Bob Cratchit, stepping in once more as the quietly loving husband of Belle (Vanessa Gibens), Scrooge’s former fiancée. Abbey Siegworth displays her best coquettish charms as a guest at the party hosted by Scrooge’s nephew, Fred (a cheerful Steven Michael Walters), but seems somewhat stiff and ill-at-ease as the silvery Ghost of Christmas Past. Jonathan Brooks, however, astonishes with his physicality and distinctive characterizations in two minor roles. He’s terrifying as The Ghost of Jacob Marley (Curtis Craig’s sound design and Matthew Richards’ lighting bolster the effect), and brashly hilarious as Topper. Who’s Topper? Exactly. He’s another guest at Fred’s party, and probably never garners the show-stopping attention or uproarious laughs that Brooks receives in the part.
The turntable stage at the Kalita Humphreys Theater works marvelously in conjunction with Bob Lavallee’s set design. As Scrooge whirls through time, his memories step on and off the carousel, magnifying the haunted quality and fleeting atmosphere. A collection of oversized, crookedly hanging clocks illuminate and chime at various points, adding a dissonance that makes the dream world even more surreal. An oversized golden curlicue dripping with crystals that descends during the Fezziwig’s (the delightful Brian Gonzales and Emily Gray) rollicking Christmas party will surely inspire some decorating schemes this holiday season.
David de Berry’s music, a collection of hymns and carols written or adapted from traditional sources, provides the atmospheric soundtrack. Even though some of the cast may not be foremost known for their musical abilities, all deliver with strong voices (a special nod to the child actors, who carry their solos with adult-like poise).
With the multitude of interpretations—some satirical, some goofy, some involving Muppets—that A Christmas Carol has inspired over the years, it’s encouraging to see that the DTC is still striving to make the classic new while retaining its central dramatic core. Scrooge tells his nephew early on, “Keep Christmas in your own way, and let me keep it in mine.” It’s a biting moment, said before the man discovers what Christmas can mean to him and those in his life, but the line can be interpreted in many different ways. This year, the DTC is keeping Christmas with a spectacular production.
Photo Credit: Karen Almond
