STAGE REVIEW : Carols in Tune With ‘Carol’

There is a lovely idea at the heart of David H. Bell’s musical adaptation of “A Christmas Carol,” which opened Thursday at the Center Theatre of the Long Beach Convention Center. It is that of intertwining traditional carols with familiar action.

Heaven knows we are saturated enough annually by stage adaptations of this Charles Dickens story to need only minimal guidance. But Bell offers more than that, if only for the sake of the new generations meeting Scrooge and Tiny Tim for the first time.

The story’s all there, but rendered more as a flowing collage of events, enhanced (occasionally obfuscated) by the interweaving ensemble of carolers who pop up pleasantly, here, there and everywhere, within and around the action. It’s a concept that makes this Long Beach Civic Light Opera production as fluid and warm as a cup of mulled Christmas cider.

It aims to please with Currier & Ives imagery, and scenic designer D Martyn Bookwalter has provided a cornucopia of Victorian clutter for the stage that looks like a scavenger’s 20-year harvest framed by imposing gilt.

This horn of plenty caused a mishap or two opening night, especially since the show’s technical effects hadn’t quite hit their stride. But the hesitations were minor and greatly offset by the grace and poise of Anne Rogers’ spoken and sung performance as the Ghost of Christmas Past--to say nothing of the surprise of seeing her pop up later in a cameo as a salty, pipe-smoking black-marketeer, plying her trade in a London gutter.

It is, in fact, a handful of such sharp performances that rescue the show from its sentimentality, with Edward Mulhare’s unblinking, acid Scrooge rigorously avoiding stereotype. His is the portrait of a cutting, bitter man who, despite growing remorse as he watches the misdeeds and missed opportunities of his life, never grovels. He owns it all, doubting aloud his ability to change, and when he does, making us believe the transformation.

A distinct pleasure is Carol Arthur in two lip-smacking roles: as dizzy Mrs. Fezziwig darting about like a disoriented butterfly and as outspoken Mrs. Dilber, Scrooge’s dipsomaniacal charwoman, who can’t decide if Scrooge has lost his mind when he offers to pay her double, or if she has.

Not all of the supporting players are quite as well turned out, but mention must be made of Timothy Smith’s thoughtful and dignified Young Scrooge (he even looks like Mulhare) and Robert Stoeckle’s glacial Jacob Marley, who offers an interesting perspective on how Scrooge got that way.

Notable too are Heather Lee’s Belle (and Bess), Christopher Michaels’ Wilkins, Robert Yacko’s Bob Cratchit, Tina Johnson’s Mrs. Cratchit and young Steve Smith’s Tiny Tim. E. E. Bell in a multitude of roles makes a sage Ghost of Christmas Present, but goes over the top with the others, especially his blustery Fezziwig.

Nancy Konrardy’s satisfying costumes range from Victorian rags to riches, and Kim Killingsworth’s lights play a dominant role in the show’s ghostly effects--some of them better than others. The sound design by Jonathan Deans could also stand some evening out; conversations were occasionally muffled by song Thursday and songs by recorded music.

Rob Bowman is credited with musical adaptation and John McDaniel with musical direction, but there’s little original music. Rogers sings her dialogue as the Ghost of Christmas Past, a decision prompted perhaps by her abilities but inconsistent with the rest of the show. Otherwise it’s all carols, a capella and in harmony, and generous Christmas cheer.

“A Christmas Carol,” Center Theatre, Long Beach Convention and Entertainment Center, 300 E. Ocean Ave., Long Beach. Wednesdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m.; Wednesdays, Saturdays, Sundays, 2 p.m. Ends Dec. 29. $18-$25 (children half-price); (213) 432-7926, (714) 826-9371, (213) 480-3232, (714) 740-2000. Running time: 2 hours.

‘A Musical Christmas Carol’

Edward Mulhare: Ebenezer Scrooge

Anne Rogers: Ghost of Christmas Past/Peg

E. E. Bell: Ghost of Christmas Present/Fezziwig

Carol Arthur: Mrs. Dilber/Mrs. Fezziwig

Robert Yacko: Bob Cratchit

Tina Johnson: Mrs. Cratchit

Steve Smith: Tiny Tim

Timothy Smith: Young Scrooge/Businessman

Robert Stoeckle: Marley/Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come

Heather Lee: Belle/Bess

Christopher Michaels: Tom Watkins/Wilkins/Undertaker

Mary Jo Mahaffey: Alice

Nancy Finn: Missy Watkins/Martha Cratchit/Laundress

Jeff Austin: Schoolmaster/Toy vendor/Topper/Businessman

Dan O’Grady: Fred/Schoolboy

A presentation of the Long Beach Civic Light Opera, Molson Brewery USA and Ed and Laura Killingsworth. Producer Barry Brown. Adaptor/director David H. Bell. Sets D Martyn Bookwalter. Lights Kim Killingsworth. Costumes Nancy Konrardy. Hair and make-up Elena M. Breckenridge. Sound Jonathan Deans. Musical adaptation Rob Bowman. Musical director John McDaniel. Production manager Donald David Hill. Production stage manager John M. Galo.