Lyric Theatre again spreads yuletide cheer with its faithful ‘Christmas Carol’
Lyric Theatre’s eighth annual production of “A Christmas Carol” should make fans of Charles Dickens’ timeless yuletide tale as light as a feather, as happy as an angel and as merry as a schoolboy.
An instant hit when it was published Dec. 19, 1843, Dickens’ story of the bitter businessman who is haunted by four ghosts on Christmas Eve and thus persuaded to change his stingy ways has become a seasonal staple in the United States, where it has been continually adapted for the stage, film and television.
Directed and adapted by Producing Artistic Director Michael Baron, Lyric’s rendition is as classic as carols like “Good King Wenceslas,” “I Saw Three Ships” and “Here We Come A-wassailing,” which the cast send soaring joyously into the rafters of the intimate Plaza Theatre.
In keeping with Baron’s concept of shaking up the production every five years, the 2018 “Carol” features the same clever, cozy set designed by Kimberly Powers, richly beautiful costumes devised by Jeffrey Meek and cannily lifelike puppets designed by Penny Benson as the past two Christmases.
With most of the adult actors playing the same parts for the third year, they’ve truly started to make them their own. Star Dirk Lumbard, whose Broadway credits include “The Music Man,” “Barnum” and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” finds new and interesting nuances in Dickens’ miser-turned-merrymaker Ebenezer Scrooge.
“A Christmas Carol” continues through Christmas Eve at Lyric at the Plaza. The cast is gathering cash donations for the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma after each show.