Click here to subscribe today or Login.
WILKES-BARRE — It’s not exactly as popular as “Jingle Bells,” but there’s a Christmas song called “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year,” and if you ever hear someone, perhaps Andy Williams, sing it, you might notice a line that mentions “there’ll be scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago …”
Ghost stories? Aren’t they just for Halloween?
Not at all, says David Parmelee, who is directing “A Christmas Carol” at Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre.
Charles Dickens crafted a ghost story when he wrote about the hard-hearted miser Ebenezer Scrooge and the unusual entities who visit him, beginning with his one-time business partner, Jacob Marley.
“The book starts out saying ‘Marley was dead … Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail,’” Parmelee said, explaining the Little Theatre production, which runs through Dec. 17, will capitalize on the ghostly wonder of it all.
“If a grandmother and grandchild come together, I expect the grandchild could be a little scared, and hold the grandmother’s hand and say, ‘How did they do that?’” Parmelee said.
“We’ll show them some of the magic,” Parmelee said, explaining audience members will see “magic maids” and “magic porters” pop in to move props or otherwise facilitate the action, perhaps appearing just in time to hand Mrs. Cratchit a bowl as she works in her kitchen, or to dust up any debris left by a departing spirit.
“I give an exasperated sigh, like ‘Why can’t these ghosts clean up after themselves?’” said Kelly Williams, of Luzerne, who portrays a magic maid.
Williams’ family is one of at least four that can claim two or more relatives appearing in the cast together. Her husband, Matt, is a magic porter, and her children, 10-year-old Alice Hopa and 5-year-old Severin Williams, portray street urchins.
So, what’s it like to be an urchin?
“We are technically orphans, begging for scraps, like a penny,” Alice said, adding the daily life of a real urchin in Dickens London would have been “probably horrible.”
But does Ebenezer Scrooge have compassion for the poor? Not when we first meet him.
“He says, ‘I’ll see you in jail,’ ” said Vanessa Peterson, of Larksville, who portrays one of the old miser’s debtors.
Why is Scrooge so mean? It’s not as if he never had a good example; as a young man he was apprenticed to the generous and jolly Mr. Fezziwig.
“We have the most riotous scene,” said Walter Mitchell, of Bear Creek Village, who in his role as Fezziwig arranges a celebratory Christmas party. “It’s ‘bring in the neighbors, bring wine, let’s have a dance.’ “
“In my scene with young Scrooge,” Mitchell continued, “I intentionally set him up with a beautiful woman. But he never shows emotion, even as a young man. Essentially, Belle will tell him later she can’t marry him because he has an idol. It’s money.”
Scrooge does succeed in earning money, but he loses Belle and turns into quite a friendless old man. His clerk, Bob Cratchit, in contrast has very little income — Scrooge sees to that — but is rich in the affection of his family.
“All the little kids hide when their father comes home, to surprise him,” said Davy Janoski, of Dallas, who portrays the young Scrooge.
One of many loving moments in the Cratchit household, the children’s eager, fun-filled greeting shows “They’re really the rich ones,” Janoski said.
Audiences will probably find their sympathy for Scrooge building as the Ghost of Christmas Past, portrayed by Carol Warholak Sweeney, reminds him of his lonely boyhood, and they’ll probably feel his pain as the Ghost of Christmas Present, portrayed by John Beppler, lets him listen in on a guessing game at his nephew’s Christmas gathering.
Party guests ask: Is it a horse? A cat? A dog?
No, no, no. This creature is “disagreeable” and “savage” and “lives in London” and “growls.”
The answer to the puzzle is, of course, Uncle Scrooge.
And, if you think the Ghost of Christmas Present had something unpleasant to show Scrooge, it’s nothing compared to what the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come has in store.
“Everybody knows the story. Everybody knows how it ends,” said cast member Chas Beleski. “Still, they come and see it. They want to see that message of Christmas and to be a part of it.”
“People are really going to enjoy the range of emotions,” said Tyler Floryan, of Forty Fort, who portrays Scrooge’s nephew. “They’ll see great sorrow, happiness, fear and redemption. “
For Jennifer Elliott, of Bear Creek, who’s been helping with costumes and watching her three children rehearse their parts, an especially poignant symbol of Scrooge’s redemption is the casting of the lad in the street who runs off at Scrooge’s request to buy a large turkey for the Cratchits.
The youth is portrayed by her 10-year-old son, Tate, who also, earlier in the show, portrays Scrooge as a boy.
The newly generous Scrooge, played by Felix Wawer, urges the boy in the street to run very fast, the way a younger Scrooge used to run.
This time, audiences can think, Scrooge will catch up with the past, and no longer leave a good deed undone.