‘Carol’ opens holiday season

Tom Titus

My son Tim used to tell me he never really felt it was the Christmas

season until he’d seen South Coast Repertory’s annual production of

“A Christmas Carol.” He felt even more strongly about it after

appearing in the show 19 years ago at the age of 11.

Yes, it’s that time of the year again, SCR’s 24th annual visit to

18th-century London and Ebenezer Scrooge’s transformation from “Bah,

humbug” to “Happy holidays.” The show opens tonight and plays through

Dec. 27 on the Segerstrom Stage.

Originally planned as a one-shot event in 1980, “A Christmas

Carol,” adapted by company member Jerry Patch from the Charles

Dickens classic, was so popular that it was brought back in 1981 --

and it wasn’t long before SCR directors realized they had an annual

hit on their hands.

Aside from being a holiday tradition for local audiences, “A

Christmas Carol” is also a time of rejoicing for the SCR cast -- many

of whom have been performing their roles since the whole thing

started. A handful of them have been with SCR from Day One, back in

the summer of 1964, before the company moved to Newport Beach and

adopted the name South Coast Repertory.

The linchpin in director John-David Keller’s familiar cast, of

course, is Hal Landon Jr., who created the role of Scrooge and has

reprised it every year since. Founding artists Don Took, Art Koustik

and Richard Doyle all will be returning in the roles they’ve played

for two dozen years.

And the only distaff member of the founders, Martha McFarland,

also returns to take on three vastly dissimilar (but by now very

familiar) roles -- a charity solicitor, Mrs. Fezziwig and a street

scavenger. McFarland has appeared in 17 of the first 23 “Christmas

Carol” stagings, having missed the first year when she was on a U.S.

tour with James Mason in a play called “A Partridge in a Pear Tree.”

McFarland wears, or has worn, many hats at South Coast Rep. She’s

also a director, having staged “Sly Fox” and “The Foreigner” at the

Laguna Playhouse, “Top Girls” at UC Irvine and the world premiere of

“City” with the Circle X company in Los Angeles. She is an instructor

with SCR’s Professional Conservatory and gives private lessons, and

she’s a popular voice-over artist, a published poet and the Southern

California casting director with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. The

latter talent, casting director, is one McFarland performed for 11

years at SCR.

On stage, McFarland has entertained SCR audiences in a number of

productions, most recently appearing in “Two Gentlemen of Verona,”

“School for Wives” and “Major Barbara.” She’s probably best

remembered for her loopy psychiatrist in “Beyond Therapy” and Pope

Joan in “Top Girls.”

Joining the five founders are other actors who have become

regulars in “A Christmas Carol” over the years -- Howard Shangraw,

Devon Raymond, Hisa Takakuwa, Julia Coffey, Jonathan del Arco and

Timothy Landfield. This year, Daniel Blinnkoff, who has been featured

in several SCR productions, joins the cast in the role of Bob

Cratchit.

Additionally, four young graduates of SCR’s Professional

Conservatory will make their debuts in this year’s production -- Sean

Durrie, Dennis Garcia, John Sisk and Christine Yael.

Keller has directed the show since its inception, and three other

backstage professionals also are taking their 24th crack at it --

costume designer Dwight Richard Odle and the lighting design team of

Donna and Tom Ruzika.

Performances of “A Christmas Carol” will be presented Tuesdays

through Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. and

Sundays at noon and 4 p.m. until Dec. 27. Tickets cost from $29 to

$44 and may be ordered by calling the SCR box office at (714)

708-5555.

*

While SCR is staging its annual “Christmas Carol,” Orange Coast

College will also be presenting a Christmas production geared toward

the entire family.

Titled “An Old-Fashioned Melodrama and Ice Cream Social,” the

holiday production opens Saturday and plays Fridays through Sundays

until Dec. 4 in OCC’s Drama Lab Theater. Curtain is set for 7 p.m.

Friday through Sunday nights, and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

afternoons.

The show, under the direction of OCC theater arts professor Rick

Golson, features an evening of music, vaudeville acts and the

college’s traditional holiday melodrama. This year’s melodrama,

written by OCC theater instructor and designer David Scaglione, is

titled “The Lodge of the Slender Pine” and is geared for the entire

family.

Rudolph Nieman, a native of South Africa, will sing a South

African Christmas carol. Everyone in attendance will be treated to a

free ice cream. There also will be a visit by Santa Claus, so parents

are advised to bring their cameras.

Advance tickets are at $5. Tickets will be sold at the door for

$8. For more information, call (714) 432-5880.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot. His reviews

appear Fridays.