It amazes director John-David Keller to come across people who do not
know about "A Christmas Carol." The play, which opened for previews
Saturday at South Coast Repertory, is in its 22nd year of being put on by
the Costa Mesa theater company. And for every year it's been performed,
Keller has directed it.
"This is probably the best Christmas story there is," he said. "It has
everything."
The Charles Dickens tale of miserly Ebenezer Scrooge and the three
spirits who show him the error of his ways (especially in his treatment
of employee Bob Cratchit) has been translated over and over again into
film, theater, books, etc.
Keller took time out Nov. 13 to speak with Features Editor Jennifer K
Mahal about what makes the tradition endure at SCR year after year.
When did you start rehearsals?
The Christmas season for us, I think, starts about three days after
the department stores. We started with the children on November the
third. And it's good to have them by themselves because there's always
new people in the cast, and I always say to them "It's like jumping on to
a fast moving train and we've already left the station."
And it's true, because there's so many people in the show who have
done the show before and who come back and ... you know, it's sort of
like falling off a log or riding a bicycle. I mean, once they get on
their feet and they're in the midst of what's going on, I think a reflex
reaction takes over, and they're sort of in it and everyone else is kind
of playing catch-up. It's a short rehearsal process.
For the children, it's a little bit longer, but then they're all new.
And we've discovered over the years that the kids learn best by just
repeating it. For example, now we're at the point in some of the Cratchit
rehearsals where they know their lines and they know what they're
supposed to be when, but I'm trying to get them to have more fun while
they're doing it. So, the having fun part is something that -- kids have
fun naturally, but when you tell them to have fun, they sort of close
down.
How has 'A Christmas Carol' changed in the 22 years you have been
doing this?
It's changed and it hasn't changed. I mean, the story is always the
same. Fortunately the Scrooge has always been the same, and fortunately
it's always been the same design team working on it -- the same person
does the costumes, the same person does the sets, comes in and looks at
them. This is the only show that SCR saves from year to year. The props,
