Review: What we liked (and didn't like) about the Playhouse's new 'Christmas Carol'

The Playhouse in the Park opened its new production of “A Christmas Carol” last week. Why a new production? The old one wasn’t good enough? Well, the previous production was created for the eccentrically shaped space of the Playhouse’s former mainstage, the Marx Theatre. And it lasted nearly three decades. So yes, it was good enough.

But things change. In March, the Playhouse opened a new mainstage theater, called Moe & Jack’s Place – the Rouse Theatre. There simply wasn’t a way to adapt the old set to the new stage and its completely different proportions. So producing artistic director Blake Robison took the occasion to craft an entirely new production of Charles Dickens’ tale of redemption. New sets. New costumes. And a new script – by Robison, who also directed the show.

This is a physically gorgeous production. Wilson Chin’s set has loads of forbidding brick walls – this is Dickens’ London, after all. And there are a couple of particularly festive backdrops. But the dominant element of Chin’s set is a towering clock at the rear of the stage.

It’s only appropriate, after all, since “A Christmas Carol” is in many ways about time – how we choose to use it, how we lose sight of it, how we squander it, how we can make the most of it. And Scrooge is in a race against it for most of the story. Chin’s clock is so elaborate that if you added a little color to it, you might mistake it for a rose window lifted from a Gothic cathedral.

The 'Christmas Carol' you know and love

The production may be new. But the story is the one we all know. Scrooge is a hard-hearted curmudgeon who has condemned himself to a loveless and lonely life. But on Christmas Eve, he is visited by four “spirits” who lead him on a soul-searching, time-shifting journey through his past and possible future.

Most of us know how this will all end, so I don’t think this is a spoiler. By Christmas morning, Scrooge sees the error of his ways and commits himself to doing better with his life, being more generous and understanding, more caring of the people around him.

Most of the production is splendid. There is a top-notch supporting cast, including Burgess Byrd, Shonita Joshi, Taha Mandviwala, Maggie Lou Rader and Ryan Wesley Gilreath, who returns as an ever-so-huggable Bob Cratchit. There are puppets, too, screeching white birds that terrorize poor Scrooge. And an ever-present soundscape created by Matthew M. Nielson that adds immeasurably to the show’s ominous undertones – the quiet ticking of a clock, whistling winds and all manner of ghostly sounds, including the clanking of Jacob Marley’s chains. And in a subtle tip of the hat to 19th-century theater, there are scooped footlights at the edge of the stage. Charles Dickens might have felt right at home.

Writing like the Dickens

There are a couple of problems, though, as there usually are with any brand-new production. One of the problems is tucked right into the script. By his own admission, Robison is an inveterate lover of literature. He adores words – not unexpected for a theater director. It’s a gift. And a hurdle.

There are times when Robison could have benefitted from being Scrooge-like, trimming more of Dickens' words to make for a more streamlined and dramatically impactful stage story. Again, this is a brand-new production. And it’s certain to return for many years to come. Just as the previous production morphed over the years, this one may, too.

Scrooge turns on a dime

My other issue has to do with Andrew May, who plays Scrooge. The show’s final minutes, when a giddy Scrooge awakens to discover that he has a second chance at life, are scrumptious. May suddenly comes alive. His Scrooge is silly and giggly and overcome with the possibilities that are now open to him.

But for the first 80 minutes or so of the show, he plays Scrooge at pretty much the same dramatic level. He’s cranky and nasty and unfeeling, as he’s supposed to be. But we don’t really see much of the transition that is supposed to be taking place. At one moment, he’s wicked. And then next, he is a good guy. As an audience member, it would be helpful to see that change as more of a journey than as the flick of an emotional switch. May is a wonderful actor. Here’s hoping that he finds more breadth in the early scenes during the show’s lengthy run.

Are either of these things deal-breakers? Not at all. There is much to love in this celebratory production, filled as it is with Christmas carols and humor and even a few scenes of extraordinary kindness, too. Like Scrooge himself, this production is just at the outset of what is likely to be a long evolution. I can’t wait to see how it grows.

'A Christmas Carol'

When: Through Dec. 30.

Where: Moe and Jack’s Place – the Rouse Theatre, Playhouse in the Park, 962 Mount Adams Circle, Eden Park.

Tickets: $33.50-$119.

Information: 513-421-3888; www.cincyplay.com.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Review: New day dawns for 'A Christmas Carol' at Playhouse in the Park