Christmas Carol, A

The lush, red-velvet interior of the historic Pabst Theater is once again brimming with holiday cheer as a large and enthusiastic cast bring Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carolto life.

Now in its 37th year, A Christmas Carol has become traditional holiday fare courtesy of the Milwaukee Repertory. In this excellent adaptation by former artistic director Joseph Hanreddy and Edward Morgan, the Rep does a good job of staging Dickens’ famous tale of redemption and kindness toward one’s fellow man.

In many ways, Dickens’ message is no less true in our time than in his. The gap between the haves and have-nots continues to widen each year. Stories of greed and corruption fill our daily news reports. Conversely, a helping hand can come from a source where it’s least expected.

Although A Christmas Carol is unique in creating the timeless tale of a wretched, rich old man and those around him, who cannot recall a live person who fits the characteristics of Scrooge, or Bob Cratchit, or matches the pluck of a Tiny Tim? Yes, A Christmas Carol deserves to be remembered, year after year.

However, in an effort to keep things fresh, a few changes have been incorporated into this year’s offering. The most dominant change is in the figure of Scrooge, who is now played by noted actor Christopher Donahue (credits include the Arden Theatre Company, Berkeley Rep, Boston Lyric Opera, Circle in the Square, etc.). He is perhaps a bit more animated than James Pickering, who practically owns “naming rights” on this role. Pickering has played Scrooge for more than 10 years.

Tall and gaunt, Donahue maintains a hang-dog look for many of his early scenes. He becomes livelier as the spirit of the season occasionally catches hold. The greatest evidence of this is his interest in a party game hosted by his nephew, Fred. Although Scrooge is unseen by the other guests, he gets increasingly excited as the game progresses. However, once the game ends, Scrooge becomes visibly deflated. Even the Jamaica-inflected words of the exuberant Christmas Present (Melody Betts, also making her Milwaukee Rep debut) cannot rouse him from his dark, reflective nature.

As always, Scrooge doesn’t disappoint when he learns that he hasn’t missed Christmas morning. His elated outbursts create an overwhelming sense of relief in the audience. It is always fun to watch the puzzled and dumbstruck faces of people Scrooge faces each day.

Equally enjoyable are the English carols that add musical flair to this adaptation. “God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen,” “Joy to the World” and “The Holly and the Ivy” are beautifully sung, either by a soloist or (it seems) the entire population of London. There are children everywhere in this show, and they are not limited to the street scenes.

The production’s other changes, involving minor bits of staging, aren’t enough to even mention. The current version may differ slightly from what one has observed in the past, but the production itself comes off neither better nor worse than it did before. As always, one comes away from A Christmas Carol with a renewed sense of what this holiday season is all about.