THEATER: North Coast Rep beefs up 'Christmas Carol' revival

By PAM KRAGEN - Staff Writer | Wednesday, December 3, 2008 10:12 AM PST ∞

When Stephen Elton was asked to direct North Coast Repertory Theatre's reprise production of "A Christmas Carol" this winter, he had some reservations.

Elton, who joined North Coast as artistic associate 14 months ago, felt Jacqueline Goldfinger's adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic (first produced at the theater last December) was good, but he also felt it could be so much more.

"I call last year's production the Cliff Notes version of 'A Christmas Carol,' " Elton said. "It was only 72 minutes long, including all the Christmas carols at the beginning of the show. We talked about what the show really represents and what it could be and we decided that there's a lot more of Dickens story that we could put into the show."

So, with Goldfinger's blessing ---- and the agreement that anything added to the adaptation would be strictly from Dickens' book ---- Elton set to work, beefing up the backstory on Ebenezer Scrooge (and what makes him so miserable), fleshing out the Cratchit family and their close relationship, livening up the Fezziwig party scene, reshaping the musical elements and redesigning the look of the show.

"Reading the book and diving back into the script, I got excited again about the story," Elton said. "I wanted to take it to the next level and build upon what we did last year."

The newly revised "Christmas Carol," which opens Friday, now runs what Elton calls "a jam-packed 90 minutes" and features six members of last year's cast, including the same Scrooge ---- multi-award-winning actor Ron Choularton.

"The joy of Ron is that he comes in physically and character-wise as the perfect Scrooge," Elton said. "He's British, he's wiry, he's ornery ... he steps right into the costume and he's the quintessential Scrooge. My job as director is just to give him everything he needs around him to have a great performance."

"Carol" marks the local mainstage directing debut for Elton, who before arriving in San Diego last year served for six years as the founding artistic director of Beowulf Alley, a 99-seat Tucson theater named the "Best small theater venue in Southern Arizona" by the Arizona Daily Star. There, he won a number of awards as a director, actor and producer.

Elton calls "Carol" a directorial challenge in many ways. The show has acting, music and dance elements, a large cast of 11 actors playing dozens of roles, ghostly special effects and more than 30 scenes to transition between.

"The biggest challenge has been putting all those pieces together," Elton said. "We didn't even work on acting the first week (of rehearsals), we just talked about movement. Then we started layering on the acting, then the songs and slowly the picture started to take shape."

"For someone who sees a lot of theater, they'll see the amount of work that went into it," Elton said. "There is an impressive level of work and refinement that has gone into this on the part of the cast and the designers."

Another challenge Elton said he faced is meeting the audience's expectations for such a familiar story.

"'Christmas Carol' is like when you go home for Christmas expecting Mom's homemade pumpkin pie. You don't want her to change the recipe. That's what 'Carol' is. You want to deliver exactly what people expect ---- the message, the story of hope and change and love for your fellow man and family. That's what we've put most of our effort into this year."

Fortunately, much of the heavy lifting is already done, Elton said, because the audience already knows who Scrooge is when they arrive.

"It's liberating. There's no need for exposition. People know who he is so you can just tell the story in a new way," he said.

One of the most important changes Elton wanted this year was a new look for the show. Last year, Scrooge's bed was always onstage and scene changes were clunky. A new design will have a turntable stage and sliding panels that allow more fluid transitions, interior and exterior scenes, and the ability to move the bed quickly offstage.

Audiences will also meet Fan, the young Scrooge's sister, who was left out of last year's version. She died when Scrooge was young, leaving an only son, Fred, who reaches out to Scrooge and redeems him in the end. And the family of Scrooge's accountant, Bob Cratchit, will get more stage time to serve for Scrooge as an example of the values of family love, harmony, hope and generosity in the face of adversity, Elton said.

"If we all do our job right, then you'll be moved by the story," he said.

Carolers will still open the show and serve as narrators, but their songs will be shorter and will feature more complex harmonies. The music will be now be spread throughout the show and the songs have been chosen to suit the various scenes. Elton said he also hopes to surprise the audience a bit with the appearances of the three ghosts who haunt Scrooge that fateful Christmas morning.

North Coast Rep's Scrooge tale is one of two "Carols" competing for holiday dollars this month. San Diego's Cygnet Theatre has reopened the long-shuttered Old Town Theatre with a new adaptation by Cygnet artistic chief Sean Murray.

Cygnet's adaptation is larger in scale and darker in concept. Children under 6 are discouraged because they may find the ghost scenes too scary. By contrast, Elton said North Coast Rep's version is more intimate and more family-friendly.

"The question is whether people who came last year will want to come again or whether they'll want to see the other 'Christmas Carol.' But we think we'll do well on word of mouth," Elton said. "People who come will see a nonstop, touching, fun-filled 90 minutes of Christmas and they'll want to tell their friends and family."

"A Christmas Carol"

When: Preview, 7 p.m. Thursday; opens Friday and runs thrugh Dec. 27; showtimes, 7 p.m. Wednesdays-Fridays; 2 and 6 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays; plus 2 and 7 p.m. Dec. 23; noon Dec. 24

Where: North Coast Repertory Theatre, 987D Lomas Santa Fe Drive, Solana Beach

Tickets: $30, general; $27, seniors, military, students with ID; $15, children 15 and under;

Phone: (858) 481-1055

Web: www.northcoastrep.org