Dickens Shows Dress Up the Holiday Scene

The holiday season--and its predictably concurrent spate of plays based on Charles Dickens’ stories--continues with the Santa Susana Repertory Company’s traditional “A Christmas Carol” at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza’s Forum Theatre, and the Santa Paula Theater Center’s new presentation of “Cricket on the Hearth.”

While Santa Susana’s “Christmas Carol” is the third to open in Ventura County this month, it’s by far the longest lived. Santa Susana Repertory first presented its version, adapted by George T. Mitchell and directed by John Garrick, in Simi Valley in 1988; this is the group’s seventh production of the classic.

Several cast members of previous shows are here again, most notably the phenomenal Eric Christmas (his real name, they swear) as crotchety-but-vigorous old Ebenezer Scrooge.

Christmas is one of several professional actors in this year’s production. He was on “Seinfeld” the night before last year’s opening, and is a regular on the soap, “Days of Our Lives.”

The actor is a tiny dynamo, giving Scrooge a solidly three-dimensional interpretation that’s a joy to watch. Other returning alumni include Richard Livingston (Bob Cratchit), Richard Harwood (Fezziwig), Kelly Dodson (Meg Cratchit), Terry Fishman (Finch), Stu Levin (Marley’s ghost), Marcy Mattox (Christmas Past), and Heather Viau as another of Cratchit’s daughters, whose stirring vocal solo has become almost as much a tradition as Christmas--the actor, that is!

The cast is consistently good, and Roger Ambrose’s scenic design and costumes by George Mitchell (yes, the playwright) add considerably to the overall appeal.

(The Bravo cable network will include footage of the production, along with Los Robles Master Chorale and artist Barbara A. Wood, during a feature on Civic Arts Plaza set to run on the network’s “ArtsBreak” program sometime after Dec. 23. That’s when Bravo premieres on Thousand Oaks’ TCI cable system).

* “A Christmas Carol” continues through Dec. 22 at Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza’s Forum Theatre, 2100 Thousand Oaks Blvd. Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays, with matinees at 2:30 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets for all shows are $22; $10 for children 12 and under, and are available through Civic Arts Plaza box office or Ticketmaster. A special dinner-show package is available. For information, call 497-8607.

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Dickens, With a Twist: Don’t forget the Moorpark Melodrama’s “A Dickens of a Holiday” for a funny change of pace, but this season’s nicest surprise may be “Cricket on the Hearth.” The Santa Paula Theater Center people have discovered an adaptation by Lowell L. Manfull of Dickens’ 1845 story, and it’s a real charmer.

John and Dot Perrybingle (Fred Helsel and Stephanie Lowe) live with their infant son and Tilly Slowboy (Linda Livingston), who acts as a nanny. John delivers toys made by Caleb Plummer (Braden McKinley) for a store run by crusty Mr. Tackleton (Mark Halstead).

John is some years older than Dot, but theirs seems an ideal, loving marriage as Christmas Eve approaches. Then a stranger (Kurt MacDonald) appears on their doorstep. Things change dramatically, and not just because the stranger looks like the long-haired derelict on the cover of Jethro Tull’s “Aqualung” album.

The play is about love, forgiveness and any number of other warm and fuzzy things, and works well in that respect. But, under Helsel’s direction, it is also very funny: Tilly is a real klutz; Tackleton’s impending marriage to May Fielding (Jennifer Leonardo) is most exciting to May’s money-hungry mother (Marilyn Foote), and so on.

Lesley Kirsten Smith is notable as Plummer’s lonely but loving daughter; James Leslie gives an athletic interpretation of the story’s title character and narrator; and Gale Graham appears briefly as a character from another, better-known Christmas classic.

While some of the acting wasn’t quite up to the standard of the principals at Sunday’s matinee--it’s everyone for himself, accent-wise--all were at least acceptable, with some (Livingston and James Leslie, among others) quite good.

Chances are that you haven’t seen, or even read “Cricket on the Hearth,” which isn’t nearly as popular as Scrooge and Cratchit and Tiny Tim. If you’re looking for something a bit different in holiday entertainment, and with no children in the cast, there isn’t a better prospect around.

* “Cricket on the Hearth” continues through Dec. 29 at the Santa Paula Theater Center, 125 South 7th St., Santa Paula. Performances are at 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, with matinees at 2:30 p.m. Sundays. Tickets for all performances are $12.50; $10 for students and seniors; and $6 for children 12 and under. For reservations or further information, call 525-4645.