STAGE WEST: "A Christmas Carol" at Cygnet Theatre

Cygnet's "A Christmas Carol" returns, but in a new space.                                   Photo by Rich Soublet II

 t            I’ve been seeing Cygnet Theatre’s annual production of “A Christmas Carol” so long that I can remember the early versions when it was presented as a radio-show telling of Dickens’ yuletide tale. Still, a few years ago I decided that, like “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” at the Old Globe, I didn’t need to see “A Christmas Carol” AGAIN.
            This year I’ve been compelled to do so, and for two very good reasons: First, this “A Christmas Carol” is the first produced at Cygnet’s new home, The Joan, in Liberty Station. Second, there’s a new Ebenezer Scrooge. Patrick McBride, who served admirably as Bob Cratchit for as long as I can remember at Cygnet, has stepped into the starring role, taking over from Sean Murray, the theater’s artistic director, who is still directing “A Christmas Carol.”
            I also took with me on Friday night two people who’d never seen the show at Cygnet. Fresh eyes. Fresh ears. Fresh perspective.
            Because I’ve written about this production so many times, I’ll pay respectful brevity to the qualities that make it an entertaining show. Like the original musical score by Billy Thompson. Like Jeanne Reith’s period costumes and Peter Herman’s wigs and makeup design. Like an ensemble that but for the Scrooge portrayer plays multiple roles, sings and jokes with audiences before the show, and year after year gives this production its all. (The one newcomer this yule is Bryan Banville, taking over the Bob Cratchit role and others.) Like, from that ensemble David McBean, whose Marley’s Ghost and Ghost of Christmas Present have always been and are still priceless fun.
            I should salute the other cast members -- the returning Eileen Bowman, Megan Carmitchel, Jasmine January, Allen Lucky Weaver and McBride.
            The new production space requires entrances from the wings and from behind an upstage door, unlike Cygnet’s Old Town theater where, for example, McBean’s Marley’s Ghost would ascend to the stage from a lower entryway. This much is negligible. Though that upstage door, complete with storied lion knocker, is utilized more hauntingly at The Joan. You’ll see for yourself.
            More haunting still in the new theater is the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come – huge and deathly black and billowing. Far more imposing than in Old Town.
            Otherwise, any technical or logistical changes to Cygnet’s “A Christmas Carol” are not noticeable, at least not to me. And that’s fine. If it ain’t broke, you know …
            I’m not quite sure how I feel about McBride’s Scrooge. I’ve been so accustomed to him as the likable, dignified Bob Cratchit that it’s hard – excepting the first 20 minutes of the show or so – to dislike him as Scrooge. The reclamation, the change of heart, the realization of goodness feel inevitable along Scrooge’s ghost-escorted travels rather than his seeming terrified or grudging or disbelieving.
            To be completely fair to McBride, there’s some recency bias here that lingers. I never really bonded with Sean Murray’s Scrooge either, because the late, great Tom Stephenson who played the part for years was so consistently wonderful.
            It feels a little late to complain that this show is over-long (which it is, mainly because the song sequences slow down the narrative as much as enhancing it). There’s also considerable exposition uttered by the supporting cast members when showing would function better than telling.
            There still are, however, many thoughtful and inventive staging touches – and that’s saying something with a story that changes location (including from Scrooge’s past life) as much as “A Christmas Carol” does. Except for the 1984 television film that starred a perfect George C. Scott, I can’t think of any movies or other TV productions that managed to translate Dickens’ tale very memorably, let alone stage versions that did.
            So what did my guests, the newbies, think of Cygnet’s “A Christmas Carol”? They both gave it a thumb’s up, though, they said, more for the comic bits than anything else. The ghouls’ plundering “Mr. Scratch” number was a particular hit.
            They did find the puppets used to “portray” Tiny Tim, the boy Scrooge and others a bit creepy. Me, I’m so used to those puppets (designed by Kris Golojuch and the late Lynn Jennings) that they don’t faze me at all.
            So am I jaded? Have I seen “A Christmas Carol” at Cygnet too many times now? Has the thrill gone?
            Ask me next year – in the audience at The Joan.
            “A Christmas Carol” runs through Dec. 28 at the Joseph Clayes III Theater in Liberty Station, Point Loma.