Photo by Abe Portillo
Few holiday traditions in Southern California arrive as dependably as A Noise Within’s A Christmas Carol, now in its thirteenth outing and showing no signs of fatigue. If anything, this year’s production gleams with the exuberance of a troupe discovering new toys: polished projections, refreshed scenic ideas, and that trademark A Noise Within ingenuity that has, at various points in the company’s history, allowed this story to be staged with as large an ensemble as this year’s cast — or with only one actor. Dickens, they seem intent on reminding us, is endlessly bendable.
The surprise of 2025 is how much feels genuinely newly minted. Longtime audiences know that the co-directing team of Geoff Elliott and Julia Rodriguez-Elliott tinkers annually, adjusting pacing, scenic transitions, or the spiritual architecture of the ghosts’ visitations. But the introduction of Nicholas Santiago’s projections gives this season a particularly fresh sheen. Images ripple across Frederica Nascimento’s spare but evocative set: fractured memories flicker across Scrooge’s walls, snow sweeps in like a stage-managed blizzard, and London’s alleys bloom and dissolve with a cinematic fluidity. The technology is never flashy for its own sake — it acts more like a second narrator, guiding the eye with painterly restraint.
“It’s amazing, really, the discovery that we could stay with something this long and still love it, still continue to find new depths every year,” says Geoff. “There’s something about this story’s enduring humanity that keeps inspiring us.”
“It’s such a joyous experience to return to A Christmas Carol annually,” adds Julia. “It reminds us of the power of community, compassion and transformation, the very things the holidays are meant to celebrate.”
Elliott shares the role of Ebenezer Scrooge this year with Henri Lubatti, whose interpretation adds a wiry, brittle intensity. Where Elliott brings his familiar gravitas, Lubatti’s Scrooge seems haunted even before Marley arrives — a man already half pulled into the underworld. As Marley, Riley Shanahan deploys his customary comic menace, his chain-dragging entrance smartly recalibrated by the lighting shifts and projected apparitions swirling around him.
This year’s batting lineup is its usual mix of reliable veterans and promising newcomers. Trisha Miller, luminous as ever, returns as the Ghost of Christmas Past, swinging in with a beguiling calm that cuts through the technical wizardry. Anthony Adu, now in his third year as the Ghost of Christmas Present, offers a buoyant generosity that counterbalances the story’s darker corners. Dan Lin, silent and shrouded as the Ghost of Christmas Future, benefits most from the production’s expanded visual palette — his scenes play like ink spilling across a page.
Among the mortals, Kasey Mahaffy continues to make Bob Cratchit the beating heart of the story, while Amber Liekhus, Jack Zubieta and Analisa Idalia join the company as the Cratchit family. The younger performers — drawn from the theater’s Summer with Shakespeare program — carry themselves with discipline and charm, especially Aria Zhang as Tiny Tim.
Yet amid the upgrades, the essential appeal remains unchanged: this is Dickens spoken faithfully, word-for-word from the novel, accompanied by Robert Oriol’s original score and staged with brisk, cleverly orchestrated transitions. The tear-downs and setups — long an A Noise Within hallmark — still unfold with sleight-of-hand speed. The company respects the material too deeply to reinvent it; instead, they polish, refine, and rediscover.
The whole effect is sometimes a little too precious, but still powerful.
A shiny coat of paint, indeed — but on a structure sturdy enough to welcome it.
A Christmas Carol plays through December 24 at A Noise Within, 3352 E. Foothill Blvd., Pasadena. Tickets start at $51.50; students from $25; Pay-What-You-Choose on Dec. 4. For tickets and more information, (626) 356-3100 or www.anoisewithin.org.
