Hartford Stage Company’s A Christmas Carol a spooky holiday present

HARTFORD — They say practice makes perfect.
After 10 years of producing “A Christmas Carol,” at the Hartford Stage Company, under the direction and adaptation of Artistic Director Michael Wilson, nothing could be truer.
Just in case you need a little jump-start to get into the Holiday spirit, this show more than fills that bill.
Bill Raymond has started a tradition of his own — returning for a second year to play that timeless tightwad in major need of an attitude adjustment, Ebenezer Scrooge.
Raymond’s Scrooge is a kinder, gentler version of the notorious penny-pincher, when even in his meanest moments he couldn’t quite suppress a twitch of his nose or a twinkle in his eye.
The ghosts however, were an altogether different story.
From the show’s first moments the ghosts where shockingly scary, flying through the air in flowing white costumes adorned with nasty, bloody cleavers and daggers stuck at odd angles into their bodies, and finished off with grotesque masks by costume designer Zack Brown.
The apparitions danced to the accompaniment of marvelously eerie original music and heart-thumping thunder by music and sound designer John Gromada, and generous lightening by lighting designer Robert Wierzel.
For the two or three people in the world over 10-years-old who are unfamiliar the classic Charles Dickens tale, it is about a bitter, greedy, old, wealthy man named Scrooge, in Victorian England, who loved money far more than anything or anyone in the world.
He treats his employee, Bob Cratchit, played with sympathy by Robert Hannon Davis, terribly — paying him a meager salary, refusing to allow him any heat while he works, and begrudging giving Cratchit his one paid Holiday a year — Christmas Day.
Cratchit had a large family to support and one sickly young boy, Tiny Tim, who needed medical assistance the family could not afford.
But it turns out Scrooge wasn’t always such a “baa-humbug” meanie.
One Christmas eve Scrooge has a visitation from the ghost of his former business partner, Jacob Marley, played with theatrical misery and remorse by Bill Kux, who tells Scrooge he must change his penny-squeezing ways or he too will die and be doomed to eternal suffering in the hear-after.
Scrooge is next visited by three different ghosts who guide him from the past, when he was a young boy and youthful man, to the present, and then to the future, after he is dead, where he learns what others really think of him.
Two children under 10-years-old who had never seen a play before had similar opinions about the play.
Connor Hillemeir, 8, a hardened veteran of many scary horror movies admitted: “The ghosts kind of freaked me out.”
Afterwards, however, he highly recommended “A Christmas Carol” to others, “because it is really awesome and scary.”
His brother, Christopher, 6, also found the ghosts difficult to watch.
He spend the first half of the production with his hands clasped firmly over his eyes, peaking out from between his spread fingers when the ghosts appeared.
Christopher said with unbridled enthusiasm he recommended the show because: “Its delighted.”
When asked why he felt the play’s ghosts were so much more frightening than a scary movie, Christopher said: “Because they were real.”
Connor felt the booming thunder accompanying the bright flashes of lightening was too loud, but was quick to add he has exceptional hearing, which might have made it more intense for him than for others.
Connor also was amazed the actors could remember all their lines. “Their jaws probably hurt now from talking so much — probably more than 3,000 words,” he estimated.
Christopher said it was important for people to know Tiny Tim’s “dad doesn’t have enough money to take him to the doctor.”
Connor said the moral in “A Christmas Carol” is “a rich man in the play should have gave the people who work for him some money to use.”
Connor said capital letters should be used for the most important lesson of all — “BE GENEROUS.”
And if Christopher and Connor get their wish, the tradition of “A Christmas Carol,” will continue at the Hartford Stage Company for many years to come.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL - A CHRISTMAS GHOST STORY

Three Stars

Theater: Hartford Stage Company

Location: 50 Church Street, Hartford

Production: From the story by Charles Dickens. Adapted and directed by Michael Wilson. Associate direction by Jeremy B. Cohen. Choreographed by Hope Clarke. Original set design by Tony Straiges. Costume design by Zack Brown. Lighting design by Robert Wierzel. Original music and sound design by John Gromada.

Running time: 2 hours including one 15-minute intermission.

Show Times: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., with matinee performances Wednesday and Sunday at 2 p.m. through Dec. 29. No Thursday, Dec. 13 or Tuesday, Dec. 25 performances. One Sunday night performance Dec. 23 only.

Tickets: $42.50 to $61.50. For further information call their box office at 527-5151, or visit their website a www.hartfordstagecompany.org.

ACTOR...CHARACTER
Bill Raymond...Ebenezer Scrooge
Bill Kux...Mrs. Dilbert, his housekeeper; Jacob Marley
Robert Hannon Davis...Bob Cratchit, his clerk; Mr. Fezziwig
Chris Connor...Fred, his nephew; Young Scrooge
Nafe Katter...First solicitor, undertaker
Gustave Johnson...Second solicitor
Johanna Morrison...Bettye Pidgeon, a doll vendor; Spirit of Christmas Past
Helmar Augustus Cooper...Bert, a fruit and cider vendor; Spirit of Christmas Present
Kit Treece...Scrooge at 14-years-old; Party guest
Natalie Brown...Mrs. Fezziwig; Old Jo
Rebecka Jones...Mrs. Cratchit
Maya Stogan...Martha Cratchit
Zachary Cyr or Brendan Fitzgerald...Tim Cratchit
Michelle Hendrick...Martha Cratchit; Party guest
Matt Faucher...Mr. Topper; Party guest
Amanda Tudor...Nichola, Fezziwig’s daughter
Kaitlin Marrin...Wendy, Fezziwig’s daughter