Scrooge’s redemption> Penobscot’s ‘Christmas Carol’ overcomes gaffes

Year after year, Ebenezer Scrooge turns his life around and takes us with him in holiday productions of “A Christmas Carol.” And year after year, we persist in thinking singularly of old Scrooge as having a tight purse and a tight heart.

Poor Scrooge. He’s such a startling and thorough example of transformation, but no one ever hears that range of experience in the man’s name. For all eternity, Scrooge is a bad guy, a miser, a creep.

Yet Charles Dickens’ lesson is one of the most joyous and hopeful of all literature. Here is a man who faces his ghosts and is reborn into self-awareness, and consequently to love, generosity and connection with others. He does the very thing most of us fear: He changes. And that monumental triumph makes the name Scrooge so much more dynamic than we give it credit for.

But Mark Torres knows what’s up with Scrooge. In his adaptation of “A Christmas Carol,” which opened Wednesday at the Opera House, Penobscot Theatre’s artistic director has taken up his own pen to emphasize the grueling and glorious story of a man gone scrupulous. Torres has taken out some of the stiffness of the Victorian dialect, but has not compromised the spirit of the story. Since the play is so short (usually just a bit over an hour without an intermission), some may have relished a strict adherence to the original story. But Torres gives it a charge, and the result is a faster-moving pace and plot.

Laura G. Schutzel, better known as the company’s stage manager, takes the director’s chair for this production and proves herself an ambitious organizer. On opening night, however, the twists and turns she meant to be clever and fascinating got tangled in technical gaffes. The revolving stage malfunctioned, the lighting was erratic, and the show never really got its momentum.

But that’s no fault of Ken Stack, who proved himself a pro in every aspect of this performance as Scrooge. Stack expertly held the show together, and we might guess that even without the misfortunes of opening night, he is still the gratifying highlight of this show. He and Catherine LeClair, who plays Christmas Present and the Charwoman, are the acting guts of this production.

Others in the show are clearly having a good time. And there are moments of delight onstage, but a certain amount of the storytelling is lost in the hands of less experienced actors who speak too softly or too quickly, or get out-volumed by sound effects and high ceilings. Although it’s theoretically a great idea to have a community cast for “A Christmas Carol,” the show deserves first-rate actors who know the nuances of the language and the complexities of Scrooge’s person and experience.

Setting all the technical criticisms aside, however, it’s nearly impossible to overlook the efforts of this crew. They love what they are doing and, in that regard, have a successful time sharing holiday cheer with the audience. The onstage musicians — none of whom could possibly be older than about 15 — are a charming and talented set of music makers. Jay Skriletz’s revolving centerpiece of building fronts is undeniably clunky and dysfunctional, but it also reveals his dogged commitment to imaginative and dynamic scenery, and he’s a champ at that, indeed.

As openings go, this year’s “A Christmas Carol” got off to a rough start. Still, the cast earned a standing ovation — not just for the neighborhood success but for the creative stick-to-itiveness in the face of tiny disasters. Scrooge, whose name could easily be synonymous with a similar gritty splendor, would give up his “bah humbugs” for a few bravos, too.

“A Christmas Carol” will be performed 7 p.m. Dec. 22 and 23, 8 p.m. Dec. 19 and 20, and 2 p.m. Dec. 20 and 21 at the Bangor Opera House on Main Street. For tickets, call 942-3333.