By Linda J. Bottjer
Lake Tahoe Action
For those who snidely snivel at the sight of Santa and sugarplums, good news is here. The world’s favorite curmudgeon, Ebenezer Scrooge, is due in Tahoe this weekend.
The talented troupe from the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival has joined with the Nevada Shakespeare Company and expanded their season from summer into the holidays with three, one-hour performances of “A Christmas Carol,” beginning at 7:30 p.m. Friday Dec. 18, at Cal Neva Resort and Spa’s Frank Sinatra Showroom. On Saturday, Dec. 19, the production moves to the Resort at Squaw Creek and then returns to Cal Neva for a final Sunday afternoon performance. The Cal Neva performances also include either a pre-show dinner or lunch.
The words of the Charles Dickens’ novella written in 1843 have been transformed into countless stage, radio and screenplays over the past century and a half. Everyone from Alastair Sims and Mr. Magoo to the current animated Jim Carrey has played Scrooge.
When asked why people should venture from their televisions to watch a live performance, director Joe Atack said, “The magic of theater is the connection of audience and performers.”
The bond is secure as the temporary conjuring of Victorian England on the banks of Lake Tahoe is easily achieved through the skill of set designer Larry Seymour, and a dusting of imagination from the audience.
The play, which features many quick transitions from gloomy interiors such as Scrooge’s ghost laden bedroom to the gaiety of Fezziwig’s festive fete is aided by multiple rotating set pieces. Transitions are accomplished in dream-like sequences by the cast of less than 20 performers who also play a multitude of parts.
One who does not is Cameron Crain, who has the starring role of Scrooge.
A member of the NSC Crain is additionally the company’s artistic director, a film actor and co-creator of the program that has brought Shakespeare to every county in Nevada.
He has acted as the miserable miser before, however this production does mark the first time his young stepson Ben will tread the boards in a leading role as Tiny Tim. The family affair continues with Crain’s wife, Michelle, appearing as the spirited Ghost of Christmas Past.
Assuring that all the characters are big and bold in this fast-moving show, Atack, who serves as the NSC’s education director, also reminds a theatergoer that at its heart “A Christmas Carol” remains a story of redemption.
Scrooge’s “Bah! Humbug!” is gradually replaced with a generous nature overflowing with goodwill to all.
The audience, too, aids in the transformation. Children are asked to come up on the stage and help teach Scrooge the lyrics to the Christmas carols forgotten during his dark years.
Coupled with the real life addition of fresh snow settled in the Tahoe basin an hour spent with Scrooge and company will be in the words of Atack: “An abundance of holiday merriment.”