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Director Q&A

You’ve directed this CBT production for several years…what inspires you to return to it every holiday?

A Christmas Carol is apparently a story I never tire of telling. It really is one of the great stories of western literature. It’s a mysterious ghost story; it’s a moving story of redemption. It’s a heartfelt celebration of family and forgiveness; and it’s a miracle play. And it never fails to reawaken my childhood feelings about Christmas. For all of these reasons alone I could continue to find it meaningful to do this play.  

But the connection is even more personal because this is an adaptation I co-wrote and co-created and it was a labor of love. So to come back to it year after year is like renewing an old friendship, or like an annual visit to an adult child. It’s gratifying.

It’s gratifying too, to introduce a new group of actors to the piece and to allow their unique qualities and impulses to change aspects of the production. Of course the rehearsal process is partly a matter of reassembling the play like a big puzzle, or a machine. But we also re-shape the piece in small, meaningful ways, both to keep it fresh and to make it specific to a new cast. It’s not just a remount of the same old production; it’s a new creative collaboration each year.  

Tell us about the actors.

Well, the biggest casting change this year will be a new Scrooge. Jon Daly is at home in Milwaukee playing Christmas Past in the Milwaukee Rep production of this script. And, much to my delight, Terry Weber will be playing Scrooge for us. Terry played Bob Cratchit last year and I enjoyed that collaboration immensely so I’ve been looking forward to this process. Terry has played Scrooge in other versions of the play and he’s been the vocal coach on this production several times, so he brings a lot of experience and understanding to the role. His portrayal of Scrooge will be a bit different from his predecessors here, Jon Daly and Jed Diamond.

My friend Jens Rasmussen is in town from New York to play Bob Cratchit. And he’s going to be wonderful.

We also have a new crop of MFA actors in the show, which means new faces in most of the large support roles. And in some cases this will significantly change the part. The best example of this is Ricardo Birnbaum, who’s from Spain. One of Ricardo’s roles is Mr. Topper, a comical guest at Fred’s Party during the Christmas Present section of the play.  For the past two years this role was played by Mike Moreno as a classic fop. This year, we’ve changed Mr. Topper’s name to Mr. Topo and Ricardo is playing him as a Spaniard visiting England. The name, the character, the accent and the comic business have all changed. It’s a lot of fun.

I am also glad to say we have a few returning actors, because their performances last year were so good and because they’re able to contribute a great deal in the rehearsal process. These include Neil Friedman as Fezziwig/Christmas Present, Jonathan Visser as Jacob Marley/Old Joe, Jess Milewicz as Mrs. Cratchit, Jaques Durand as Grimgrind and Tyler Padgett as a principal singer and the Reverend.

Then of course there are returning actors in new roles, new undergraduates and community members, and a passel of new and veteran children.

It’s a wonderful cast this year. The production is going to be terrific.  

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