COSTA MESA — Artistic Director David Ivers and Managing Director Paula Tomei celebrate the holiday season with South Coast Repertory’s 42nd production of “A Christmas Carol,” a longtime Orange County favorite.
The Charles Dickens classic, adapted by Jerry Patch, runs through Dec. 24 on the Segerstrom Stage.
SCR Founding Member Richard Doyle returns for his second year as Ebenezer Scrooge. His performances as the miserly curmudgeon in last year’s production drew critical praise. Hisa Takakuwa returns to direct.
“‘A Christmas Carol’ resonates deeply with me. It inspires me on a professional level and has become a beacon to me on a personal level,” Ivers said. “Everyone who saw Richard Doyle take the top hat and scarf and make it his own last year knew they were watching something special. When you combine that with Hisa Takakuwa’s knowledge and artistry, an outstanding cast and stellar creative team, you have a truly special holiday experience.”
All in all, Doyle brings 37 years of “A Christmas Carol” experience to audiences. He has played many of the show’s characters, including the Ghosts of Christmas Past and Present, Fezziwig, Scrooge’s nephew Fred and both solicitors.
“This year will be slightly different, because this year, I will have an ownership of this amazing role I was charged with creating for the first time last year,” Doyle said. “Now, rather than working to make it my own, it will be my story to tell. Actors are at heart storytellers and as stories go, this is a great one.”
Takakuwa relishes her role as director. She served as assistant director for 14 years and also appeared in the production for 14 more. Her experience with the production, her skill working with the 16 children who alternate performances and the level of trust she inspires among both returning actors and newcomers adds to the quality awaiting audiences.
“I am honored to both shepherd the cherished legacy of SCR’s ‘A Christmas Carol’ and support beloved Founding Artist Richard Doyle as he continues to deepen and grow his Ebenezer Scrooge,” Takakuwa said. “I am especially excited to welcome several new cast members into the ‘A Christmas Carol’ family this year, all of whom are SCR veterans. As always, there will be a bit of new to keep it fresh for audiences, but never at the cost of the heart-warming and comforting holiday classic that so many hold as a family tradition.”
Joining Doyle in the cast are Preston Maybank (Bob Cratchit), Michael Manuel (Ghost of Marley), Richard Soto (Ghost of Christmas Present), Jennifer Parsons (Ghost of Christmas Past), Melody Butiu (Mrs. Fezziwig/Solicitor), Tommy Beck (Young Scrooge), Larry Bates (Fred/Gentleman), Kelsey Bray (Mrs. Shelley/Pursued Maiden), Eduardo Enrikez (Joe, Young Marley), Michael Reese Shald (Topper), Erika Schindele (Belle), Nick Slimmer (Thomas Shelley), William Francis McGuire (Mr. Fezziwig), Elyse Mirto (Mrs. Cratchit) and Alicia Coca (Sally).
The understudies are Diana Burbano (Mrs. Fezziwig, Mrs. Cratchit, Ghost of Christmas Past and Sally) and Michael Polak (Bob Cratchit, Ghost of Christmas Present, Fred, Jacob Marley).
Maybank, Bates, Enrikez, Shald, Mirto and Coca are newcomers to this year’s cast.
The cast is joined by 16 young performers, who are divided into two eight-person teams that alternate performances. The child actors are students in the SCR Theatre Conservatory who auditioned for their roles after completing at least two years in the Conservatory.
The Red Team features Justine Roussel (Martha Cratchit), Maximilian Lalli (Peter Cratchit), Maddie Chung (Belinda Cratchit), Julia Ner (Tiny Tim), ChloeLux Phan (Teen Girl About Town), Tessany Azizi (Girl About Town), Max Zazik (Boy Scrooge/Oliver Shelley) and Ben Hacker (Turkey Boy)
The Green Team features Natalie Bright (Martha Cratchit), Matthew Chan (Peter Cratchit), Anabelle Green (Belinda Cratchit), Yunah Choi (Tiny Tim), Piper Huntley (Teen Girl About Town), Ashley Hong (Girl About Town), Isaac Person (Boy Scrooge/Oliver Shelley) and Vincent Logan (Turkey Boy).
The creative team includes Thomas Buderwitz, scenic design; Dwight Richard Odle, costume design; Donna and Tom Ruzika, lighting design; Dennis McCarthy, music arrangement/composer; Drew Dalzell, sound design; Dennis Castellano, vocal director; Kelly Todd, choreographer; Joanne DeNaut, CSA, casting; and Talia Krispel, production stage manager.
“A Christmas Carol” received generous support from Honorary Producers Julianne and George Argyros/Argyros Family Foundation. The media sponsor is The Orange County Register.
Tickets are now on sale and range in price from $35 to $101, with additional discounts available for children under 12. Tickets may be purchased online at www.scr.org or by phone at (714) 708-5555.
Remaining previews run Sunday, Nov. 27, at 4 p.m.; Tuesday, Nov. 29, and Wednesday, Nov. 30, at 7:30 p.m.
Regular performances
Saturdays at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m.: Dec. 3, 10 and 17
Sundays, at 12 and 4 p.m.: Dec. 4, 11 and 18
Tuesdays-Fridays, at 7:30 p.m.: Dec. 2, 6, 8-9, 13-16, 20-23
Friday, Dec. 23: 2:30 and 7 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 24: 12 and 4 p.m.
Special Events
Student matinee: Wednesday, Dec. 7, at 11:30 a.m.
American Sign Language-interpreted performance: Saturday, Dec. 10, at 2:30 p.m.
South Coast Repertory is located at 655 Town Center Dr. in Costa Mesa, at the Bristol Street/Avenue of the Arts exit off the San Diego (405) Freeway in the David Emmes/Martin Benson Theatre Center, part of the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. Parking is available on Park Center Drive, off Anton Boulevard.
Director Hisa Takakuwa on Her Journey
By Brian Robin
Hisa Takakuwa remembers her first audition for “A Christmas Carol.” It was her first audition as a member of Actors Equity, the theatre actors’ union. She remembers reading for the part of Belle.
And she remembers not getting the role.
“Then, I did an educational touring production for SCR and came back the next year,” Takakuwa said. “I joined the cast in a different role — Sally and the Toy Lady — which I played for 14 years.”
From such humble beginnings, legacies are born. During her run playing Sally and the Toy Lady, Takakuwa became director of SCR’s Conservatory. That made her eventual move into the assistant director’s role a seamless one. And her 14 years there, honing her craft with longtime director John-David Keller, made last year’s transition to director equally as seamless.
“A Christmas Carol” runs Nov. 26-Dec. 24 on the Segerstrom Stage. This is the 42ndannual production for the Orange County holiday tradition.
It returns with SCR Founding Member Richard Doyle back in the top hat and scarf of Ebenezer Scrooge. It returns with several familiar actors in new roles, such as Larry Bates — who played Jacob Marley in previous productions — returning as Fred. Other SCR veterans debuting in the production include Elyse Mirto (Mrs. Cratchit), Preston Maybank (Bob Cratchit), Alicia Coca (Belle) and Eduardo Enrikez (Joe/Young Marley).
And it returns with Takakuwa not only aware of her role as shepherd of a beloved tradition, but with a comfort and a trust level with her cast that allows her to stretch her wings as a director. This means audiences will see a few new twists in this year’s production. Twists we’ll allow Takakuwa to describe without any spoiler alerts needed.
“We’re trying to freshen, spark and punctuate the Ghosts a little bit, explore the ghost story of ‘A Christmas Carol,’” she said. “We may have an exciting new prop we’re working with that will spark the Ghost arc. … We’re also trying to enhance the magic of the ghost scene and the power they do have over Scrooge and the power they don’t.”
When it comes to power, Takakuwa understands the power of this production as well as anyone. A strong believer in story and going where the story leads, she relishes the entire experience of being in the room with Doyle and the rest of the talented cast, including several of the children she’s mentored as Conservatory director. There are 16 children in the cast, broken up in two teams of eight that alternate performances.
“My job is to help gather this amazing company of artists together and harness the creative potential they bring to ‘A Christmas Carol,’” she said. “That’s the exciting part of this. As a director, you have a strong idea what this story is about and how you feel about it. What kind of story are we trying to tell and how can we bring that to life?
“You go in with all these ideas and then you start from ground zero, in a way, because when you bring all these artists in the room, you see what energies and talents they bring. And you work with certain designers because they’re bringing something to the story. You talk with them about the story. ‘This is what the story is about, what do you think the story is about?’”
Takakuwa remembered a conversation she had with Lighting Designers Tom and Donna Ruzika, who handled lighting design for all 42 years of the run. She marveled as they told her about the evolution of technology in lighting standards and techniques over the show’s duration. The Ruzikas’ task is different in 2022 than it was in 1982 and Takakuwa loves the fact they carried their voice forward.
This illustrates how Takakuwa understands her role. Find talented artists and put them in positions that give them the best chance for creative success.
“I approach ‘A Christmas Carol’ different than I approach something else. It’s a legacy production. It’s about honoring that legacy and nurturing and evolving that legacy to resonate in our community now,” she said. “The elements in the story that were powerful before are still powerful, but maybe in a slightly different way because of COVID, because of coming out of a pandemic and because people weren’t together in a community for a year and a half.
“There are elements in the story about community, about being generous, about being patient and kind. They were always there, but they resonate to artists and audiences in different ways now.”
All of this took Takakuwa back on her own journey from first audition to winning a part she made her own for 14 years, to assistant directing to directing a production enjoyed by generations of families.
“I think the more mature I became as a person and as an artist, the more I want to trust a story, especially a classic like ‘A Christmas Carol,’” she said. “The more I want to trust the writer, both Charles Dickens and Jerry Patch — who wrote the adaptation — as guides. I have never been a writer or creator in that way … but the world of language is an exciting place for me.
“Hopefully, I’ve become more confident as a director. Working with the people in the Conservatory and directing here and in other places, I now bring an openness and confidence in the room that I probably wouldn’t have had 10 years ago.”