by Molly Walsh
In between the tinsel, gift wrap, twinkle lights and party invitations that often denote this time of year, the holidays are also a time to slow down, reflect and take in the comfort of family, friends and cherished tales that fondly capture the essence of the season. And for Harlequin Productions, this art of storytelling is at the core of their own holiday celebration. This includes the live performance of the long-beloved fable, A Christmas Carol, set to return to the Harlequin Productions stage from November 29 to December 24 at Olympia’s State Theater.
Originally a novella penned by Charles Dickens, this production of A Christmas Carol has been carefully crafted for the theater by Producing Artistic Director for Harlequin Productions, Aaron Lamb. According to Helen Harvester, director of marketing and communications, Lamb’s adaptation premiered on the Harlequin stage in 2021, and this piece will continue to be part of Harlequin’s seasonal repertoire for many holidays to come.
“One of the hallmarks of the holidays is tradition,” said Harvester. “For the many patrons who go to the theater with their families once a year during the holidays, we want to make sure there is a show on our boards every holiday season that is well-known and well-loved.”
The narrative of A Christmas Carol has endured through the generations, highlighting a perpetually relevant and moving message with continued influences across film, television, theater and literature. The story primarily takes place around Christmastime in London, where the infamous and wealthy entrepreneur, Ebenezer Scrooge, rebuffs any attempt of holiday merriment or opportunity to help those close to him who are in need.
In the evening, Scrooge encounters a series of apparitions, beginning with his late friend and business partner, Jacob Marley, and followed by ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet to Come. The ghosts take Scrooge on a lifetime’s odyssey that provides a stark view of Scrooge’s legacy and impact on those around him, with a lingering question of whether this pilgrimage will allow Scrooge’s heart to soften.
“A Christmas Carol is the greatest redemption story ever told, wrapped up in the trappings of a ghost story,” said Lamb. “A story of redemption is fundamentally a story about hope and forgiveness. If audiences leave a little more hopeful and a little more open to forgiveness after they see this production, we have succeeded.”
It has been no small task for Lamb and the Harlequin Productions team to renew a work that was initially released in 1843, and a major consideration was choosing which components to carry over into the stage production, and whether there were remaining uncertainties from the novella that could be answered using action or characterization. Through the craft of visual storytelling, Lamb intends for Harlequin’s adaptation to underscore the authentic narrative, with text remaining quite faithful to the source material, while also demonstrating a more resonant and poignant drive for Scrooge’s salvation.
For Lamb, maintaining a captivating stage production meant taking a closer look at Scrooge’s character arc, which is where Harlequin’s adaptation begins to peel away from the novella. Unlike the novella, where Scrooge appears more receptive to the ghost of his old friend, Marley, early on in the story, Lamb said Harlequin’s version of Scrooge needs some additional convincing from a departed loved one.
“Harlequin’s adaptation answers that question with the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come,” said Lamb. “Instead of the voiceless, robed figure that most audiences have probably seen before, in our version she is the ghost Scrooge’s beloved sister Fan, who died in childbirth. Only her rebuke of him and her dire visions of his future are enough to convince him that he must change.”
As Harlequin’s annual production of A Christmas Carol continues to carve out a legacy as a local holiday staple, Lamb said a significant portion of the production’s set and costuming will bear close resemblance to previous years, with only small details altered, including never-before-seen robes for the Ghosts of Christmas Past and Present.
“The overall direction of the changes is always to make this year’s production even more festive than the year before!” said Lamb.
According to Harvester, there will also be interplay between the show’s characters and set design, and wondrous special effects that will keep the audience on their toes, whether that is self-lighting candles, or unexpected entrances and exits for certain characters.
In the spirit of the season, numerous cast members who participated in the prior year’s production of A Christmas Carol at Harlequin will once again grace the stage this year. This includes Terry Edward Moore as Ebenezer Scrooge, Nathan Rice playing Bob Cratchit and Victoria Austin playing both Belle and Mrs. Cratchit. According to Lamb, audience members may recognize some faces from prior Christmas Carol productions at Harlequin, but they will be donning new characters compared to past years.
“Many of the actors are returning from previous years, but most of them are returning in different roles,” said Lamb. “It has been fascinating to see the production coming alive with familiar voices coming at the play from fresh and different perspectives.”
Also this year, the production includes two actors each for the roles of Tiny Tim and Young Scrooge, as well as Little Fan and Martha Crachit, with the different casts performing on separate days of the show’s run. This includes Izumi Huff as Little Fan and Martha Crachit, and Evan Grinnell-Holdermann as Tiny Tim and Young Scrooge for the “Green Cast.” For the “Red Cast,” Cosette Yanasak will play Little Fan and Martha Crachit, and Larry “LJ” Bevan will play Tiny Tim and Young Scrooge. Harvester said audience members can find the performance dates for each version of the cast on the Harlequin Productions website.
*Denotes membership in the Actor’s Equity Association, the Union of Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
Photography from the 2023 and 2022 productions by Shanna Paxton Photography
WHAT:
A Christmas Carol from Harlequin Productions
WHEN:
7:30, p.m. Thursday-Saturday;
2 and 7:30 Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday and Christmas Eve, Nov. 29 to December 24
WHERE:
State Theater, 202 4th Ave East, Olympia, WA 98501
COST:
Tickets range from $5-55
LEARN MORE:
https://harlequinproductions.org/show/a-christmas-carol-5/