Editor’s Note: We give our arts critics the latitude to state their opinions of the work they review, and we know they must address many complex and sometimes controversial aspects of an artist’s choices; we also recognize that sensitivity must be exercised in describing them.
He fills the considerable shoes of Hal Landon Jr., who left the role at the end of the 2019 season — 40 years after he played Scrooge for the first time in SCR’s first production.
This year, Doyle and Takakuwa are able to present their work in front of a live audience .
As such, the theater world has a love-hate relationship with the Victorian miser, and the more cynical and profit-minded among them often do a slapdash and half-hearted job, knowing audiences will show up no matter what.
Though the quality of its “Christmas Carol” varies slightly from year to year, the theater has always brought considerable talent and resources to its holiday show, and the production is altered in small but meaningful ways each time it is staged.
That said, quibblers could point to some tired-looking sets and less-than-perfect scene changes .
If you’re a Richard Doyle fan, then you’ll be both unsurprised and pleased by his version of Ebenezer Scrooge.
He excels at playing characters with a bee in their bonnet, and he can unleash a large inventory of tricks to portray annoyance, bemusement and other traits of a man who’s not happy with the world.
If you’re going to SCR’s “A Christmas Carol” to see a specific young performer, keep in mind that the children’s roles are double cast.
Late in the play, Patch’s script leaves Scrooge plenty of time to dither in his room, and it seems Doyle is still working out the details of these challenging moments.
The best thing about Doyle’s interpretation, though, is that it’s not Landon’s — he doesn’t try to imitate his colleague’s interpretation in any way — yet it works just fine.
Daniel Blinkoff returns to his longtime role as Bob Cratchit, and as always, he finds just the right balance of pathos, humor and underlying optimism.
Of course, for many people, individual performances and details of production design aren’t important.
As an independent and local nonprofit, Voice of OC’s arts and culture reporting is accessible to all.