With its haunting sets, vivid costuming and energetic performances, A Noise Within’s (ANW) annual production of “A Christmas Carol” doesn’t disappoint this year. Artistic co-director Geoff Elliott’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’s classic novel makes palpable Ebenezer Scrooge’s miserliness in both love and money, and the transformative effects of seeing his Christmas past, present and future – with the help of some remarkable ghosts.
The role of Scrooge this year alternates between Elliott and ANW company member Frederick Stuart. Elliott brings nuanced flair to his Scrooge, making the audience gasp at his meanness as he denies a bonus to his poor clerk Bob Cratchit (a congenial Kasey Mahaffy) on Christmas eve, while rudely dismissing Christmas carolers and gruffly refusing to donate money to help those in need.
Fortunately (or not) for Scrooge, the white-faced ghost of his old business partner Marley (a fantastic Riley Shanahan) pays him a morbid visit that night, tethered by loud rattling chains and accompanied by moaning spirits.
ANW’s exceptional production crew – scenic design by Jeanine A. Ringer with projections by Kristin Campbell, costuming by Angela Balogh Calin, lighting by Ken Booth, music and sound by Robert Oriol and wigs and makeup by Tony Valdes – bring this scary scene to visceral life.
Marley tells Scrooge he can avoid the fate of wandering the earth as a wraith if he goes with three specters on a journey through his life — the Ghost of Christmas Past (Trisha Miller) in a white dress and top hat, arriving on a swing; the Ghost of Christmas Present (Anthony Adu), adorned in abundant fruits; and the eerily silent Ghost of Christmas Future (David A. Rangel), who points Scrooge toward his potential demise.
The past has Scrooge seeing his younger self as a schoolboy and later as a young man happily at work – marked by a lively communal dance with women in festive pink wigs – but then also as a man choosing money over the love of his fiancée Belle (a bright Roshni Shukla).
In the present, he realizes how he’s missing out on life with his only relative Fred (Mitch Connelly), who is only ever cordial to Scrooge. He also observes how the poor but loving Cratchit family with seven children, including the young Tiny Tim (Aria Zhang, too cute for words), enjoy a merry Christmas dinner together.
In a bleak potential future, he sees how only dry businessmen, who humorously say the same thing at the same time, show up to his funeral, while lively but crass underworld scavengers sell his belongings. Even more sadly, he sees the Cratchit family grieving for Tiny Tim.
Returned to his bed, Scrooge is newly reborn, and Elliott infuses him wth an infectious childlike joy, in both voice and manner, giggling, wiggling and dancing for the slightest of reasons or none at all – a wonderful portrait of how we might be at every moment if we let ourselves.
The only aspect of the production that sometimes distracts is sound quality. Though Elliott is delightful as Scrooge, his voice is occasionally hard to hear. Meanwhile, the Narrator (Mildred Marie Langford) is audible, but her attempted British accent makes it sometimes difficult to discern the words. (Since the narrator is ostensibly reading from the novel, perhaps an American accent would work just as well?)
But the entire cast and crew otherwise shine in this richly vibrant production. Audiences of all ages will not only be entertained by ANW's “A Christmas Carol,” but emotionally moved by its message of love and generosity – fitting for this time of year and hopefully to carry into next year as well.
“A Christmas Carol” continues through Dec. 24 at A Noise Within, 3352 E. Foothill Blvd., Pasadena, with performances Thursdays and Fridays at 7:00 p.m., Saturdays at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m., and Sundays at 2:00 p.m. For tickets and information, call (626) 356-3100 or visit anoisewithin.org. Run time is 1 hour and 45 minutes, including intermission.
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