The Ghosts of Christmas Carols Past

This is the season that makes some people ache with a particular form of nostalgia, which in turn drives them toward a pathological type of repetitive behavior. These people feel compelled to see the same local holiday productions year after year.

Let’s call it Bob Cratchett Redundancy Syndrome.

Revelers with BCRS must see the same production of “A Christmas Carol” over and over. And, no matter how many times they have witnessed tottering tots--in tutus and en point--lurching across a stage, they still need to see another performance of “The Nutcracker.”

Now, we are not talking about people whose children are in the snowflake corps, or whose uncle is the annual Scrooge. We are talking about ordinary civilians who go again and again to their community theater or auditorium to see their favorite warhorses, even when they are ready for the glue factory.

To be fair, this is a harmless behavior, and, based on clinical evidence, the condition appears to induce happiness in the afflicted.

But it does seem odd.

Only those with BCRS can explain people dashing home to get the best seat for the yearly rerun of “A Brady Christmas,” and the “I Dream of Jeannie” holiday episode. But is there anyone out there who could possibly get through another suger-laden viewing of Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life”?

Apparently, plenty of people.

The members of the Santa Susana Repertory Company have suffered happily with BCRS for years.

And they will be relapsing with their ninth annual adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” starting Friday and running through Dec. 20.

“I think we need a yearly reminder of good will and benevolence,” said Rick Rhodes, executive director and musical composer of this year’s production, by way of explaining the condition.

Although the company has been doing the Dickens classic for nearly a decade, this production, which will be at the Scherr Forum Theatre at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza, has gone through a major overhaul.

*

“This year, [artistic director] Lane Davies asked James Egan to write a new adaptation,” said Rhodes. “And he got a new director, Allan Hunt. So this is a new, more exciting, colorful version of the show.

“For the past five years, the same show was offered--the same costumes, same people, same sets. This year we have made significant changes. We’ve added more comedy. And James Egan has added more true Dickensian dialogue. And, of course, there is more music.”

Bah humbug! It’s still the same old story, right, with that mean Scrooge and that pitiful Tiny Tim. Just how many ghosts of Christmas Past can we reasonably tolerate, even clanking around in new chains and singing upbeat songs?

“The show does wonderfully each year,” Rhodes said. “People come back again and again. One reason is that we promise to add more each year. This time, there are more kids, so it is more kid friendly.”

For the ultimate in kid-friendly ubiquity, it’s hard to beat “The Nutcracker.” So far this season, there has been one variation on the theme, “Kingdom of the Sweets--Clara’s Dream,” performed Nov. 22 by the Channel Islands Ballet School at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center. This is the sixth year the school has danced in an adaptation of the ballet.

*

Still to come, California Dance Theatre in Agoura Hills will offer its 11th annual production of “The Nutcracker” at the Fred Kavli Theatre in the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza on Dec. 19 and 20.

And, starting today and running through Dec. 13, the Channel Islands Ballet Company (not to be confused with the school) will perform its 19th annual production of “The Nutcracker.”

All this makes perfect sense to Kirsten Oakley, assistant director and ballet mistress with the CIBC.

“ ‘The Nutcracker’ represents Christmas to people,” she said. “It is an automatic tradition--the dancing, the story and the music.

“Images of the ballet are seen everywhere, on TV, in ads, so kids recognize it even before they see it. And the ballet itself represents an art form that people want to see. It just makes people happy.”

Even people who aren’t close personal friends of the Sugar Plum Fairy?

“My mom took me to my first production of ‘The Nutcracker’ when I was very young and that was it,” said Oakley. “I was hooked.”

As Oakley recalls her exposure to “The Nutcracker,” all Scrooge-like tendencies disappear.

The truth is, this columnist has fond memories of the first time she saw “The Nutcracker” with her mother.

The ballet was a revelation that led to and through many years of dance classes.

And many years of attending performances of “The Nutcracker.”

*

And while we are at it, there are several movies the columnist owns or rents that are popped into the video player at least once a year. Particularly “Scrooge,” which the columnist’s son tries to make the family watch on a monthly basis.

And it is hard to remember a holiday when someone in the house hasn’t sneaked off with a hanky to steal a few blubbering moments with “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

Perhaps we all are afflicted with BCRS in one way or another. It just comes with the season, like the flu or fruitcake.

*

Wendy Miller is a Times staff writer.