O.C. STAGE REVIEW : Hal Landon’s Serious Scrooge Gives Meaning to SCR’s ‘Carol’ : The actor’s performance as the notorious miser far outshines others in a cast missing its usual top-notch veterans.

As Ebenezer Scrooge plunges headlong with the rest of us into an apparently nasty decade filled with omens of war and hard times, his redemption through generosity and kindness would seem to have a special significance.

Whatever the reason, Hal Landon Jr. has turned serious as Charles Dickens’ notorious miser. He brings a far more provocative dimension to his perennial starring role in South Coast Repertory’s adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” than the caricature he gave us last year.

Landon remakes Scrooge into a tragic figure of sorts, who manages to avoid the usual fate of tragic figures. He also has eliminated last year’s giddy baby talk in a climactic second-act scene, which clearly was intended to entertain the 6-year-olds in the audience but which trivialized the meaning of the play.

Landon’s deepened performance, however, is not matched by the rest of the company, which is nowhere near as crisp as it was last year.

Despite the casting of a handful of minority actors in major supporting roles--a commendable, politically correct effort--the production is measurably diminished by the loss of such top-notch SCR veterans as Anni Long, Jarion Monroe and Don Took as well as Devon Raymond, one of the brightest newcomers.

For instance, the romantic byplay--or even a spark of attraction--between young Ebenezer and Belle is totally lost.

Last year, with Dante di Loreto and Raymond in the roles, it made for one of the play’s more appealing digressions. But Richard Soto gives a wooden and uninviting performance as young Ebenezer, no better here than he was this summer as Claudio in the Grove Shakespeare Festival’s “Much Ado About Nothing.” Lucy Rodriguez not only lacks delicacy as Belle but manages the seemingly impossible feat of swallowing her words while delivering them with a stentorian flourish. Their parting scene as would-be lovers has the flavor of community theater.

Jerome Butler, also a newcomer, fares better in the roles of Marley’s Ghost and the Spirit of Christmas Yet-To-Come, both heavily disguised by makeup and costuming.

SCR veteran Richard Doyle, replacing Art Koustik (who is recovering from a motorcycle accident), brings the requisite joviality to the role of Mr. Fezziwig and gives us a baudier, less feral portrait of the Fagan-like Joe. And while Ron Boussom’s depiction of the Ghost of Christmas Past is comically effete, it pales by comparison with Monroe’s precise elegance in last year’s production.

Meanwhile, the party scenes as a whole have lost some of their radiance, although director John-David Keller’s staging is full of lively details and Dwight Richard Odle’s costumes are colorful and authentic.

Certainly the show’s overall technical pizazz is all there, including special effects that elicited shrieks from the audience.

Perhaps the supporting cast will improve with more performances. Getting accustomed to the chatter from the kids in the seats may help as well.

As a cultural rite of passage, “A Christmas Carol” plays to many kids. The veteran actors in this annual holiday show have come to expect interruptions. On opening night Wednesday during the second act, however, one young child kept up such a long, loud, running conversation with himself, his parents and nobody in particular that it would have been hard for Olivier himself to have cast a spell.

‘A CHRISTMAS CAROL’

A South Coast Repertory production. Adapted by Jerry Patch from the story by Charles Dickens. Directed by John-David Keller. With Lucy Rodriguez, Richard Soto, Richard Doyle, Hal Landon Jr., Diana Tanaka, John Ellington, Howard Shangraw, Martha McFarland, Ron Boussom, Jerome Butler, Ron Michaelson, Marilyn Fox, Henry Leyva, Tristan Tait, Paul Hall and Laurie Woolery. Setting by Cliff Faulkner. Costumes by Dwight Richard Odle, lighting by Donna and Tom Ruzika. Sound design by Stephen Shaffer. Music direction by Diane King. Through Dec. 23 at 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. Show times are Tuesdays to Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays also at 2:30 p.m.; Sundays at noon and 4 p.m.; weekday matinees on Dec. 18 and 20 at 2:30 p.m. Tickets: $22 to $24. (714) 957-4033.