Review: 'A Christmas Story - A Ghost Tale of Christmas' at Hartford Stage

“‘A Christmas Carol’ has an everlasting freshness that fills the heart with hope and caring. It keeps me fresh, it always will. Even when I no longer perform it, it will be with me and I am thankful for that.” - Bill Raymond

Hartford, CT - ‘A Christmas Carol - A Ghost Story of Christmas’ is a holiday tradition at Hartford Stage that is currently in its nineteenth year. The play is now under the direction of Artistic Associate Rachel Alderman. The annual production combines professional actors with the graduating class of acting students from the Hartt School of Music who have earned the opportunity to perform opposite their faculty. Each year also brings a new group of children from both near and quite far away to the company.
Those ghosts are pretty scary, but are one of the best parts of this cleverly adapted version of the Charles Dickens’ classic novella by former Hartford Stage artistic director Michael Wilson. Darko Tresnjak, the current artistic director of Hartford Stage, writes that Mr. Wilson has created much more than a holiday entertainment; he has created a perennial holiday tradition for patrons young and old in the Greater Hartford community. Almost every seat was filled at the Sunday matinee that I attended and many families sat together in the beautiful theatre.

For seventeen of this show’s nineteen years, Bill Raymond has starred as Ebenezer Scrooge and 2016 will be his final year playing the iconic role. His Scrooge was a jolly old soul even before his transformation of heart, adding a little comedy and some contemporary references to the first act.

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After a second viewing of this annual production, I recommend it for ages 8 and up especially because of the number of young children in the cast. If you have never seen it, I encourage a trip to Hartford this year to catch what will be one of the last of 647 performances by Mr. Raymond in the role of Scrooge. The show runs one hour and 45 minutes including one intermission. The production runs at Hartford Stage through Dec. 30 and Mr. Raymond will perform in all public performances except for the 2:00 and 7:30pm shows on Monday, Dec. 26, when Buzz Roddy will cover the role of Scrooge.

Three post-show talkbacks have been added for ‘A Christmas Carol.’ These discussions, led by the artistic team, will feature adult cast members from the production. The dates are Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 7:30pm, Saturday, Dec. 10 at 2:00pm and Wednesday, Dec. 14 at 7:30pm.

Pictured: Bill Raymond (foreground), Curtis Billings and Gillian Williams Photo by T. Charles Erickson