Over Three Decades of Bah! Humbug! at South Coast Repertory

Two years ago, dressed on stage in a long gown and nightcap, Ebenezer Scrooge turned to the Ghost of Christmas Present and did a double take when he saw the specter’s graying hair and wizened face. “Excuse me, spirit, but you seem to have aged 30 years,” the miserly entrepreneur remarked, drawing appreciative laughter and applause from an audience apparently in the know.

It’s an inside joke to be sure, but very appropriate to those who came to South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa to see actor Hal Landon Jr. celebrate his 30^th season portraying the world’s most famous shilling-pinching businessman in A Christmas Carol. And now, we can't wait to see him somersault into his 32^nd.

In fact, during an interview in 2009, Landon told VisitThePlace.com that the best thing about his more-than-three-decade-long performance is that it doesn’t take him as much time to put on his makeup as it did 30 years ago. The hair is thinning and the wrinkles are built-in. Saves him an hour and a half each performance, the veteran actor figures. If the video does not load, please refresh the page:

 

By the day after Christmas this year, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol will have been staged over 32 times on Segerstrom Stage at South Coast Repertory, and an estimated 60 percent of the audience has already been down these aisles before. The Christmas performance is an annual ritual for many Southern California residents and their families, who claim the two-hour show gets them in the right frame of mind for the holidays.

And a lot of that has to do with the transformation of Scrooge on stage. Landon, who began playing the role when he was 38 years old, says his character changes a bit every year. Sometimes, Landon will tackle the role with additional doses of humor. The next year, he’ll be more somber and reflective. And other years he’ll toss in a little combination plate of gloom and giddiness just to keep the veteran audience on the edge of its seats.

But the basic message remains the same, and some say it’s more pertinent this year than in years past. There are a lot more people out of work this year than there were back in 1980 when John-David Keller first directed A Christmas Carol at South Coast Repertory. Today, most of us find ourselves affected on one level or another with massive layoffs and high unemployment, banks foreclosing on mortgages, and some families tipping over the edge into homelessness. Even if we’re doing just fine, we all know people who aren’t. So this seasonal story embraces a theme of generosity and kindness. It is Ebenezer Scrooge’s transformation that has held such a strong appeal with readers and audiences for more than a century and a half.

Much like the spirits who barged in on the life of a greedy upper-middle class businessman, South Coast Repertory's production of this timeless Christmas classic presents its audience with an opportunity for self-reflection, examining the impact we each make on our world throughout the year.

It urges us to be kind, to help others and, more important, to get involved with those who might be less fortunate that ourselves. And if we walk out of the theater with that thought in mind, we set the stage for an excellent holiday.
A Christmas Carol runs November 26 - December 24 on Segerstrom Stage at South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Dr., Costa Mesa. Tickets are available now, just check out scr.org, visit the Box Office, or call 714-708-5555.