Photo by T. Charles Erickson

It is 3 a.m. on my 46^th birthday, November 3^rd, and I promised Adam Immerwahr I’d get this blog in before rehearsals started. So… I’d better hurry - they start the 6^th. I am amazed that this is my tenth year directing A Christmas Carol at McCarter Theatre. It feels like I just started. I was given the gift of re-mounting the “old” version in 1998 and the even greater gift of directing a new production in 2000. I suppose I can no longer call this current version, now in its eighth year, “new,” and yet I do. This year, the more accurate term might be: renewed.

We have taken the perhaps unusual step of rejuvenating nearly the entire cast of the show this year. Unusual because we have thrown the old adage, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” completely out the window. Because of a gorgeous, smart and faithful adaptation by Tommy Thompson, a phenomenal team of collaborators and the unparalleled administration and production departments that truly care about this annual holiday gift to its community, we have had eight years of terrific reviews and local support. So why change things? I became intrigued by what the alchemy of a drastic re-shaping might bring to this well-oiled machine. The unknown is as exciting as it is risky.

One of my proudest achievements during my annual immersions in Princeton is the fact that we have never rested on our laurels. No show has been exactly the same year after year. I remember the first six years had as many Marley door knockers and opening numbers because we kept thinking of ways to improve them. Nothing is ever truly finished, right? And we have always welcomed the refreshing combination of returning cast members and first-timers to our “Christmas Carol” family. Cheryl Mintz (the supervising stage manager) and her team support me in not allowing the following words in the rehearsal room, “This is how we did it last year” - a more important rule this year than ever.

When I first thought of making such a significant change in the cast, I fully expected to add our similar percentage of new folks, yet shift some of our returning cast members to other roles to shake things up a bit. But then something strange happened. A couple of our longstanding returnees decided it might be time to try some other holiday productions while others were unavailable for various non-theatrical reasons.

Throughout the audition process, seeing familiar scenes brought to different life by an entirely new group of actors began to feel more and more right. When all the pieces of the casting puzzle had finally fallen in to place, the Equity ensemble had only one returning member in the same role (someone who was new last year) and another (who had not been in the show in five years) had shifted roles. Leading the pack will be James A. Stephens as a new Scrooge who brings a unique authenticity to the world’s most famous curmudgeon that finally excavates a heart of gold.

On our final day of call-backs, Mara Isaacs (the producing director), Laura Stanczyk (the casting director) and I looked at each other and realized that our brand new company was not only brand new but all had a similar performance style that was different from that of years past. Not better or worse but they were all uniquely tuned to be together in this particular company. They might not have fit as well in past companies just as members of A Christmas Carol past might not fit as well with our “Christmas Carol” present. Without actually expecting it to happen to such a degree, the rejuvenated company not only found us but almost decided for itself a unique approach to the material. Alchemy.

Of course, one of the most key elements of our show is the young ensemble - where we have made as drastic a shift as possible. Over 160 local children between the ages of 5 and 13 auditioned for the show this year for only 14 available parts. What a gift we give each other with this unbelievably professional group of young actors. Five of them are new to the show this year, although of the remaining nine, the majority are in new roles. In fact, one of our returning boys has gone through nearly all the male roles in his five years with the young ensemble! And like a starter for a good loaf of sourdough, the non-Equity ensemble has two returning members.

As I look back on my ten years with McCarter Theatre and A Christmas Carol, there is no way to describe my pride in the production and my gratitude for the friends I have made. I look forward to learning through this new ensemble of performers things I never knew existed in this perennial gem; the facets of which continue to amaze me by revealing and refracting inexhaustible insights. I hope you will enjoy witnessing our journey this year - the map of which I am happily certain, the destination of which, I am joyously uncertain.

Posted by Michael Unger, Director of McCarter Theatre’s production of A Christmas Carol. Photo: Susan Knight and members of the Young Ensemble.

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 4th, 2007 at 8:24 pm and is filed under Directors' Diaries. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.