The classic tale of ‘A Christmas Carol’ is getting a New Hope twist through Dec. 30
By Samantha Bambino
The Times
There’s just something so timeless about the tale of A Christmas Carol. Despite being penned by Charles Dickens in the 1800s, many of its ideals still hold fast today. It’s a story of self-awareness, a journey to embracing the spirit of giving, and a firm reminder that there are people in this world who won’t survive without our help.
Through Dec. 30, Bucks County Playhouse is putting its own New Hope twist on this beloved holiday classic, once again bringing Ebenezer Scrooge’s Big Playhouse Christmas Show to the stage. The family-friendly reboot, written by Gordon Greenberg (Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn) and Steve Rosen (The Other Josh Cohen), follows Scrooge as he rediscovers the spirit of Christmas.
While all of the traditional elements of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol are intact, including the iconic ghosts of Christmases Past, Present and Future, Greenberg and Rosen have added new elements for Ebenezer Scrooge’s Big Playhouse Adventure, which became BCP’s most successful holiday production in its history last season. Set in New Hope, the show charges five actors with the task of playing nearly three dozen roles, in addition to instruments.
The cast stars Broadway and film veteran William Youmans (Broadway’sWicked, Carousel, The Little Foxes) as Scrooge. Youmans is joined by Sarah Manton (Broadway’s One Man, Two Guvnors), James David Larson (BCP’s Million Dollar Quartet), Tina Stafford (national tour of Once) and James Ludwig (Broadway’s Monty Python’s Spamalot and BCP’s Million Dollar Quartet).
In the midst of rehearsals and performances, The Times caught up with Ludwig, who portrays Bob Cratchit, Jacob Marley, and a slew of other characters, to learn more about this one-of-a-kind revamp.
Though Ludwig starred in the debut of Ebenezer Scrooge’s Big Playhouse Christmas Show last year, that certainly wasn’t his first exposure to A Christmas Carol. The actor has landed roles in a number of productions, including the yearly tradition at McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey, for more than a decade.
“Basically, you could say I’m a sucker for this show. I love it,” he said. “I love the message, I love the storytelling.”
As someone who has lived and breathed the story of Scrooge for so long, it’s a thrill for Ludwig to experience a fresh version. He referred to BCP’s creation as “innovative,” and expressed his excitement over having such an intimate number of cast members.
“We basically create the entire world ourselves with just four other actors, which is really, really cool,” he said. “I call it sort of perfectly theatrical in that it’s basically a bare stage with some stuff on it that we then use to create the world. If we did that in a film, people would say, oh that’s boring. But in the theater, it’s magical. It makes people use their imagination, and whenever that happens in a theater, everything is better.”
According to Ludwig, the fact that the show is set in New Hope allows audiences to feel personally connected to the story. There are local jokes and references, and people are able to envision themselves as the characters more easily than if it took place in 1800s London.
“I could be that guy who maybe didn’t give much last year, but I got a few extra bucks in my pocket this year and I can actually make a difference for somebody,” Ludwig said.
The nods to modern day also grant the actors more freedom to put their own spin on these well-known characters.
“It’s really easy in this show just because of the way it’s been written. We’re not aliens. We’re not people from London in 1890, which can feel very distant from us in the present,” Ludwig said. “My Marley is very much of the area. I’ve selected an accent that I think reflects a very specific regional dialect that is American. It’s not British.”
Without giving too much away, Ludwig hinted that the grand-scale musical finale will be a highlight of the show. Once again, BCP is offering theater-lovers and aspiring thespians the opportunity to join the cast on stage during select dates. For an additional cost, “Scene Stealers” will be able to participate in the number, as well as attend a morning workshop and rehearsal.
For Ludwig, it’s a pleasure to see audiences clamoring to embrace one of his favorite stories, which, he revealed, wasn’t intended to be about Christmas.
“He (Dickens) was inspired to write it because he went to a tin mine in Northern England and saw kids being used as labor in the mine. He saw little 7-, 8-, 9-, 10-year-olds, boys and girls, pushing carts through the tunnels because they were small enough to fit,” Ludwig said. “He got all fired up about it and he was going to write a pamphlet against child labor.”
But after some reflection, Dickens had a new idea, one he believed would make a much stronger impact than a pamphlet.
“If you think of it that way, you realize that the central character of A Christmas Carol is not Scrooge. It’s Tiny Tim. It’s the kid who’s had nothing and is hurting and will die unless somebody does something. And the person that needs to do something is the least likely one — Scrooge,” Ludwig said. “Child labor still exists around the world. It’s still out there. We think we’ve gone a long way since the 1890s, but in a lot of places we really haven’t. So it’s very relevant when it comes to issues like that.” ••
If you go…
Tickets to Ebenezer Scrooge’s Big Playhouse Christmas Show begin at $40. Special rates for groups of 10 or more. Package price for “Scene Stealers” is $150 per person, with available dates including Dec. 22, 23, 27 and 29. For complete details, visit buckscountyplayhouse.org, call 215–862–2121 or visit the box office at 70 S. Main St., New Hope.
Samantha Bambino can be reached at [email protected]
