With Bangor theater’s ‘Carol,’ familiarity breeds contentment

For more than 10 years, Mark Torres has been rendering versions of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” The ghost of Christmas Past has almost always been a woman or a child dressed in flowing white gowns. Christmas Present has been a portly man with a bellowing laugh and tree decorations strung from a massive cloak. Christmas Future has been a tall, ghoulish, Darth Vadar-style mute who directs his business by raising a bony finger.

Scrooge is the least variable of all. He looks like Ken Stack, the actor who has played the role more than 20 times and has now influenced the way an entire generation of youngsters sees the old humbug.

The cast of characters is back again, including Stack, with Penobscot Theatre Company’s “A Christmas Carol,” which previewed Monday and runs through Dec. 23 at the Opera House in Bangor. It’s all more or less based on Dickens’ story, which Torres has regularly adapted as a part-drama, part-oratory, part-caroling event. That’s also true again this year, and if the story weren’t so elevating and Stack’s performance so perseveringly convincing, it would be tempting to say – if you’ve seen the show more than once – that it could use a new vision.

Fact is, though, the show is a hardy perennial. This year’s rejuvenated elements include the shadowy smokestacks of a London skyline by set designer Nicole Coppinger, and a chillingly mercenary “Old Joe” scene, in which thieves bargain to sell off Scrooge’s posthumous personal effects. Elena DeSiervo, Christopher Franklin, Abi Van Andel and Dennis A. Price are responsible for the “Les Mis”-like approach to this scene. They do a version of “We Three Kings” that is deliciously devoid of sentimentality. Their vignette is the most successful take on this often over-caricatured scene.

Most actorly this year are Christopher Franklin, as Bob Cratchit, and Andrew Towler as Scrooge’s nephew. But this is a community effort and, while some of the characterizations fall a little flat – Rich Kimball’s Jacob Marley is one of the most sedate ghosts you’ll ever meet – the spirit of the piece still works its magic.

Philip Burns presents the music direction with a festive and nuanced touch. His wife, Tina, who plays Mrs. Cratchit among other roles, and the big-voiced DeSiervo contribute, along with their singing cast mates, a lovely melodic component. Not everyone onstage has the training of Burns and DeSiervo, but the songs are nevertheless delivered with real-life sincerity.

“A Christmas Carol” remains a holiday favorite with children and adults alike. Its message about memory, self-awareness and transformation is always trenchant. But so much, in the end, depends on Scrooge. In the role, Stack continues to get the most laughs and the most empathy. If his version of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” doesn’t make you mist up around the eyes, no matter how many times you’ve seen him deliver it, then you’re the humbug, not him.

Penobscot Theatre Company will present “A Christmas Carol” through Dec. 23 at the Opera House in Bangor. For information, call 942-3333. Alicia Anstead can be reached at 990-8266 and aanstead@bangordailynews.net.