A Christmas Carol

[The following review ran in the Denver Post on December 11th.]

Revisiting theatre classics is much like attending religious ceremonies: it's not only a deeply ingrained rite of the species, an updated version of tribal practices, but it delivers us to states that are otherwise inaccessible. This has everything to do with participating with a group of people in a transformative process.

The Cratchit Family and the cast Photo: Terry Shapiro

Charles Dickens' crowning achievement—the one of which he was most fond—"A Christmas Carol," is this type of spiritual experience. In director Bruce K. Sevy's production, currently running at the Stage Theatre of the Denver Center Theatre Company, we are treated in Richard Hellesen's adaptation to a stunning series of images of Victorian England, as only the great writer was willing to describe it, in all its inequities and pleasures.

Philip Pleasants as Ebenezer Scrooge Photo: Terry Shapiro

Sevy, scenic designer Vicki Smith, and choreographer Christine Rowan keep a constant flow of characters and settings whirling across the stage, tapping into the dream state consciousness that ultimately transforms Scrooge's hardened avarice and locked-down heart into the spirit of Christmas. Mix this visual fluidity with David de Berry's evocative and rich score and an astounding and lavish parade of costumes by Kevin Copenhaver, and you have—a classic!

Philip Pleasants takes the bold road as Scrooge, initially irrepressible in his heartlessness and vitriol. Where, we ask, will Pleasants find an iota of goodness in his dastardly counting-house overlord to change him into a man who knows how to celebrate the season? The first hint of the impressive level of detail in which Pleasants has wrapped his Christmas gift to us occurs when Scrooge, in private, picks up his nephew Fred's present, gives it a curious look, shakes it, and then peaks inside before tossing it in the garbage and restoring himself with a "Bah, humbug!"

(L to R) Philip Pleasants as Ebenezer Scrooge and Larry Bull as the Ghost of Christmas Present Photo: Terry Shapiro

Pleasants maintains this electric hyper-realism throughout, shading the entire epic with the arc of Scrooge's remarkable, step-by-step journey from cynic to heartfelt celebrant. Isn't this transformation what we ought to recall about Scrooge, rather than the irascible caricature with which we generally associate him?

Sam Gregory, as Bob Cratchit, the gentle eternal optimist, strikes all the right chords in both his slavish relationship with Scrooge and his tender and tight-knit familial circle. John Behlmann is winsome as Fred, tirelessly pursuing his Uncle Scrooge's higher self.

Leslie O’Carroll as Mrs. Fezziwig and Sam Gregory as A Fiddler Photo: Terry Shapiro

David Ivers' Ghost of Jacob Marley arrives twice with startling effect and, like the tenor of the drama as a whole, achieves a visceral connection with both Scrooge—as he warns him of the consequences of a life spent worshiping a golden idol—and the audience. We wonder why, however, after so many years in the grave and as a specter, Marley's getup wasn't far worse for the wear and his skin a-moldering.

Chris Mixon and Leslie O'Carroll as the Fezziwigs provide a thoroughly delightful and laugh-filled comedic apex—with their merry dancing, jovial hospitality, and high farce, including an hilarious off-beat aria by O'Carroll—during Scrooge's recollection of his once-sensitive youthful self, just prior to his engagement to Belle (Nisi Sturges).

Nisi Sturgis as Belle and Philip Pleasants as Ebenezer Scrooge Photo: Terry Shapiro

In what is perhaps the most painful moment in young Scrooge's life, and doubly so with older Scrooge's recollection—when Belle returns his engagement ring—Sturges finds a compassionate yet persuasive tone to deliver another of Dickens' exquisite moral homilies. Sturges' later solo number as Belle, as well as her depiction of Martha, the Cratchit's eldest daughter, also sparkle.

Leslie Alexander, as Mrs. Cratchit, the backbone of the family, is a perfect counterpoint to her mild husband, with well-aimed salvos of spunk and vinegar to underscore the righteousness of labor's cause and give testimony to her husband's character.

Stephanie Cozart as the Ghost of Christmas Past Photo: Terry Shapiro

As the agents of Scrooge's change, the Ghosts of Christmas Past (Stephanie Cozart), Present (Larry Bull), and Yet to Come (Andy Jobe) play off Pleasants' elevated reality, opening an extra-dimensional dreamscape where everything that ever was, is, or will be exists now.

Cozart's subtle, ironic tone and understated sense of drama add sting to Scrooge's remembrances; Bull's eloquence evokes St. Nicholas as a philosopher-king; Jobe's silent, stealthy positioning on a dark stage hides the foreboding features of his grim apparition just below our visual threshold—a disappointing directorial choice, if intended, or an oversight, if not—which left us wanting for a scarier image.

(L to R) Paul Morland as A Beggar Child, Philip Pleasants as Ebenezer Scrooge and Christine Rowan as the Street Singer Photo: Terry Shapiro

Original orchestrations by Thom Jenkins and Gregg Coffin and additional solos by Christine Rowan, Paul Morland, Ellie Schwartz, and Bryce Baldwin add zest to Dickens' beloved holiday recipe.

Most remarkably, the scope of the production gives us an appreciation for the elements that have made A Christmas Carol our Everyman, a universal epic revealing the psychological underpinnings of spiritual transformation. What could be more topical?

The Denver Center Theatre Company's production of A Christmas Carol runs through December 24th. 303-893-4100.

Bob Bows