How many times has Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,“ been performed since its original novella version in 1843?
Given the fact that that was more than two centuries ago, and the play has been a staple of live theater around the world, with numerous professional and amateur productions happening every year, especially at holiday time, a reasonable estimate would be that the play has been performed live hundreds of thousands of times.
It is also its own tradition at A Noise Within Theatre, first mounted in 2011, and now in its twelfth year.
There are a lot of things that get introduced anew every generation. Children born last week will grow up listening to the Beatles with their parents or grandparents. Young children see Dickens’ play in grade school for the first time.
And it’s completely new to them.
A Noise Within’s unique stage adaptation by co-director Geoff Elliott is, of course, quite faithful to the novel’s narrative, word for word, in fact.
This year’s production is co-directed by Julia Rodriguez–Elliott. Geoff also alternates in the role of Ebenezer Scrooge with Frederick Stuart, while each plays opposite Riley Shanahan as Jacob Marley.
The always-captivating Tricia Miller is the ghost of Christmas Past, Anthony Adu is the ghost of Christmas Present, and David A. Rangel is the ghost of Christmas Future. Kasey Mahaffey returns as Bob Cratchit and Emily Kosloski is back as Mrs. Cratchit.
Mitch Connolly portrays Fred, Ella Bain is Fred’s wife, and Roshni Shukla is Belle. Brooklyn Bao, Stella Bullock, Brendan Burgos, John Preston, and Estella Stuart are the Cratchit children with Aria Zheng as Tiny Tim. This year’s narrator is Mildred Marie Langford. Madison Keffer rounds out the ensemble.
While I tried to remember which production details had changed, if any, other than Langford as the narrator, every element of the stage production seemed new and fresh, even the rusty, woozy chains that bind the ghost of Jacob Marley to and from the stage, seemed new, until I read my review of last year’s work.
It still holds true this year:
“Given the story’s familiarity, the company’s ace in the hole is their production and staging,” I wrote, “ which is remarkable and innovative, from Trisha Miller’s appearance on a swing to introduce Scrooge to what lies ahead, to the descending chains that ensnare Jacob Marley’s ghost as he makes his chamber visit early in the story.”
This is simply a exraordinary production reproduced faithfully every year by a theatre company that respects the classics.
The performances are all first-rate, and the costuming is impressive. The production design is clever and smart.
A Noise Within’s production of “A Christmas Carol,” doesn’t try to re-invent the wheel; it simply tries to be the best wheel it can be.
A Noise Within’s production of “A Christmas Carol,” runs through December 24. A Noise Within Theatre, 3352 E. Foothill Blvd. (626) 356-3100. Www.anoisewithin.org.
