Some holiday traditions arrive like clockwork: Peppermint mochas, crowded parking lots, and the Long Beach Playhouse\u2019s annual production of \u201cA Christmas Carol.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s something comfortingly familiar about watching Charles Dickens\u2019 tale unfold on that Mainstage, almost like checking that final box on the December to-do list: \u201cSee Scrooge redeemed.\u201d This year\u2019s production, directed by Carole Louise Nicholson, offers exactly that sense of seasonal completion.<\/p>\n
The Playhouse\u2019s quick-paced version breezes along, guided this time by three narrating spirits, Christine Carver, Ren Warzecha, and Andrew Yonce, who greet us right away and weave in and out of the story with friendly energy.<\/p>\n
Curiously, they don\u2019t become the traditional Past, Present, and Future; instead they act as a kind of storytelling trio. It seems an incomplete idea, I found myself wondering just where their thread fits within the usual Dickens structure. I waited to have it revealed in the end, but it is simply the storytelling structure \u2014 nothing more.<\/p>\n
Their costumes are the only design element that may give a viewer pause. While the rest of the production settles comfortably into a classic Dickensian look, crocheted shawls, tidy waistcoats, and well-worn Cratchit hand-me-downs, the three spirits seem to be dressed from a different imaginative corner altogether. Nothing jarring or distracting, just a small curiosity in an otherwise traditional visual world.<\/p>\n
As always, the show gets a lift from its performers. Gregory Cohen anchors the evening as Ebenezer Scrooge, and it\u2019s a lovely, steady performance. He doesn\u2019t oversell the grumpiness or the sentiment; instead, he charts the old man\u2019s long night with clarity and a gentle touch, which keeps the whole production from tipping into melodrama.<\/p>\n
And then there\u2019s Dash Gomer, who is a delight on the Playhouse stage. As Tiny Tim, school-age Scrooge, and the ever-cheerful Turkey Boy, he brings warmth and charm without ever pushing too hard. It\u2019s the kind of honest, youthful presence that reminds you why this show has stayed a December favorite.<\/p>\n
Jay Miramontes makes for an earnest, kind Bob Cratchit, J.D. Rinde appears everywhere at once ,in the best way, as Marley in a bad wig and Fezziwig where it\u2019s just in the name. Alexandra Young lends a soft glow to Belle. The ensemble moves the story along with spirit, sometimes broadly, sometimes sweetly, and the whole evening feels like a community leaning into a classic they know by heart.<\/p>\n
This Christmas Carol delivers what many Playhouse regulars come for each year \u2014 a familiar story told with affection, a few ghostly shivers, and the satisfying glow of Scrooge\u2019s transformation. It\u2019s a pleasant, family-friendly way to usher in the holidays, and a comforting checkmark on your seasonal traditions list.<\/p>\n
If you go<\/p>\n
Where: Long Beach Playhouse, 5021 E. Anaheim St.<\/p>\n
When: Through Dec. 21.<\/p>\n
Cost: Tickets start at $20.<\/p>\n