Christmas Pageantry

The institution that is Missouri Repertory Theatre’s A Christmas Carol began during the 1981-82 season. Actors who now stroll the stage as the parents of teenagers were teenagers themselves, perhaps dreaming of some day putting a show this big on that pie-in-the-sky résumé inspired by high school drama. And now that playing a Mr. Cratchit is a reality for those young men, there could be (and have been) far worse productions with which to be associated.

This year’s brisk and vibrant production was to have been directed by outgoing artistic director George Keathley, who chose instead to remain in the Florida Keys. Linda Ade Brand stepped in, giving the show a fresh eye with which to focus on a new Ebenezer Scrooge and a new Ghost of Christmas Past. Played sturdily and ethereally by, respectively, Gary Neal Johnson and Melinda McCrary, the roles are among the dozens brought vividly to life by more Kansas City actors than audiences will ever again see on a Rep stage. Because the rumors wafting around the appointment of new artistic director Peter Altman include the possible euthanasia of A Christmas Carol, this is an ideal year to add the show to those already busy holiday itineraries.

Johnson is superb as Scrooge (whose closed emotional valves inspire asides about wishing people were “boiled in their own pudding”), and there is hardly a dry moment in the show. From Tom Mardikes’ eerily expressive sound design to the smallest roles (played by such usually over-the-title actors as Donna Thomason and Larry Greer), each piece of the production complements the whole.