Little Theatre to present original adaptation of ‘A Christmas Carol’

Did you know a “humbug” is an old-fashioned candy, usually mint-flavored?

Well, it is. And during an early scene in Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre’s production of “A Christmas Carol,” which opens tonight, Dec. 8, Scrooge’s nephew Fred offers him an open bag of sweets.

“Humbug?” Fred invites the old curmudgeon.

“Bah!” Scrooge scoffs, never actually uttering the whole “Bah Humbug” phrase people have come to associate with his character.

If that’s not enough of a clue to let you know Canadian playwright Justin Haigh’s original adaptation of the beloved Christmas classic has a few twists, how’s this?

While Scrooge refuses to accept candy directly from his nephew, when he is alone — with nephew Fred and long-suffering employee Bob Cratchit nowhere in sight — Scrooge scoops a piece of candy out of the bag and pops it into his mouth with what looks like a triumphant grin. So …. maybe we’re about to meet a different kind of Ebenezer.

“He’s very human,” said Felix Wawer of Swoyersville, who has portrayed Scrooge in five previous productions, both at Little Theatre and out of town. “He becomes more human with each (visit from a) ghost, finally begging the last ghost, don’t leave me here in this state of remorse. Let me live and make amends.”

In case you’re unfamiliar with Charles Dickens’ classic tale, Scrooge’s business is money lending and his heart is miserly. If someone tries to appeal to his better nature, they’re likely to hear a scornful comment about “idle riffraff” or “decreasing the surplus population.”

On Christmas Eve he’ll be visited by several spirits, starting with his deceased business partner, Jacob Marley, and ending with the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. As the night progresses, his heart will soften, especially toward the impoverished Cratchit family and its youngest, most vulnerable member, Tiny Tim.

“In the end you’ll love him,” Wawer said of Scrooge. “He becomes everyone’s friend.”

“At first Scrooge is very blind to what’s going on around him,” set designer Nickie Kylie Pimental of Kingston said earlier this week as a rehearsal got under way. “But we rip that veil off Scrooge’s eyes and he’s finally able to see.”

“I wanted to give that same transparency to the show,” Pimental continued. “There are no walls, no doors. We have a floating portrait and candelabra above Scrooge’s fireplace. They look like they’re attached to a wall but they’re not. And we have a chandelier that will drop down for Fezziwig’s party.”

Costume designer Kitty Ortiz of Nanticoke, who was putting finishing touches on costumes earlier this week, said she is relatively new to sewing, but enjoys the creative outlet.

“I need to see part of me represented there,” she said, noting she doesn’t use patterns as much as she recycles “found pieces that I ‘Frankenstein’ together.”

One example of her recycling ingenuity was to remove the light element from a Halloween pumpkin and incorporate it into the costume of the Ghost of Christmas Past, so it will look as if a light is emanating from her heart.

The Ghost of Christmas Present also will have lights in his costume — adorning the holly wreath on his head.

As for the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, unless Ortiz further adapts the costume, glowing eyes will be shrouded behind a lacy veil that covers the actor’s entire face.

“I see her not as the Grim Reaper you often see depicted, but more like an Old World woman in mourning,” Ortiz said. “She’s not supposed to scare you, just to make you feel uneasy.”

“She has a bit of Baba Yaga in her,” Ortiz said, naming a character from Slavic folklore who is sometimes good, sometimes bad, almost always mysterious.

By the way, if you’ve ever watched other versions of “A Christmas Carol” and felt sorry for Scrooge spending so much time alone in a house that’s always cold because he’s too stingy to pay for heat, you’ll notice he’s not quite so alone in this production.

Here he has a lively housekeeper who doesn’t hesitate to spar with him verbally.

“She’s the voice of truth for him,” said Carol Warholak Sweeney of Shavertown, who adopts a Cockney accent to roar such lines as — when Scrooge tells her she’s fired — “You can fix your own dinner now, and scrape it off the bottom of your other boot.”

All the action of Little Theatre’s 2023 “A Christmas Carol” will be packed into a 90-minute first act; the “second act” will consist of a New York-style holiday review, with the audience invited to sing along, which should make an afternoon or evening at the theatre even more festive.

It’s very family-friendly, said cast member Miriah Kohn of Hanover Township, who plays Mrs. Cratchit. “My son is 11 years old, and I’m really looking forward to bringing him to this,” she said.

“Come and enjoy it,” director Mark Finkelstein urged. “Have a night out. It’s a classic, with a twist.”

“It’s got a beautiful happy ending,” said Susan Parrick of Forty Fort, who plays the Ghost of Christmas Past. “I’m loving the fact that we’ve got people of all ages in the cast.”

“It’s the miracle of Christmas, the feeling that someone can be redeemed,” Sweeney said, reflecting on what she likes best about the show. “One of the first lines says everyone has a bit of Scrooge inside them. But just like they say there’s a Scrooge in everyone, there’s also good in everyone. We have to believe that.”

Show times are 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays through Dec. 17 at Little Theatre of Wilkes-Barre, 537 N. Main St., Wilkes-Barre. Tickets are $20 at LTWB.org, or by calling 570-823-1875.