Hoping to establish a holiday tradition, the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis has bought back last year’s delightful staging of A Christmas Carol, directed by Hana S. Sharif. My second viewing of the show was even more enjoyable than the first.

The Rep has adopted Michael Wilson’s adaptation of the Dickens classic, in which the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge is redeemed by visits from a series of ghosts on Christmas Eve.

Wilson alters the story in several ways. The first change is in the introduction of Jacob Marley, Scrooge’s deceased partner. Marley’s face does not appear to Scrooge in a door knocker, as in one of the book’s iconic scenes. Instead, Scrooge speaks of seeing Marley after waking up from a nightmare.

When Scrooge awakens, his housekeeper, Mrs. Dilber, is with him. In the book, she is a laundress who steals from the dead Scrooge in the vision presented by the Ghost of Christmas Future. Wilson expands the part of Mrs. Dilber into a cross-dressing character in the tradition British pantomime. She charms the audience in Michael James Reed’s brilliant performance.

Like most of the actors, Reed plays more than part. He makes a spectacular entrance as Marley’s ghost, the first one to visit Scrooge. Marley is accompanied by a group of ghost dancers. Their impassioned movement adds to the eeriness of this scene and several others in Kirven Douthit-Boyd’s evocative choreography.

Wilson’s most significant additions are three vendors from whom Scrooge tries to collect debts on Christmas Eve. The admirable performers in these roles also play the three Christmas spirits who visit Scrooge. Laakan McHardy is a doll seller and Christmas Past. Paul Aguirre is a refreshments seller and Christmas Present. Eric Dean White is a watchmaker and Christmas Future. One of the show’s most impressive effects is Christmas Future’s effortless gliding across the stage on a what appears to be a self-balancing scooter.

The doubling of the vendors and the ghosts suggests Scrooge’s visitations during the night may be dreams based on the people he encountered the previous day. I’m glad Wilson raises the possibility the ghosts were dreams and equally glad he doesn’t settle the question. The ambiguity enhances the play.

Guiesseppe Jones demonstrates a keen understanding of Scrooge’s state of mind at every point along his way to becoming a new man. The Cratchits are heartwarming as parents and as a couple in the performances by Armando McClain as Bob and Michelle Hand as Mrs. Cratchit. Joseph Lewis Edwards and Carmen Garcia are the embodiment of Christmas cheer as the Fezziwigs. Alegra Batara and Peterson Townsend nicely portray two young couples: Scrooge’s nephew, Fred, and his wife; and Young Scrooge and his sweetheart, Belle. Melissa Harlow is a solicitor and a party guest.

The ghost dancers include Nathan Keen, DeAnté Bryant, Jailyn Genyse, Remi Mark, Collin Mekyel Milfort, Jorrell Lawyer-Jefferson, DaJuan Johnson. Among the Webster University students in the cast are Ally Gia, Jayson Heil, and Aria Maholchic.

The show is a feast for the eyes thanks to Tim Mackabee’s scenic design, Dede Ayite’s costumes, Seth Reiser’s lighting, and Hana S. Kim’s projections. The show gets its great sound from Nathan A. Roberts and Charles Coes’s music and sound designs, Tre’von Griffith’s music direction, and Adi Cabral’s dialect coaching.

The parts for young people are played by two youth ensembles from COCA, directed by Adena Varner, with hip hop choreography by Robert Crenshaw. At the press opening, I saw the green ensemble, which was splendid. I’m sure the blue ensemble is just as fine. The members of the two teams and their roles are:

Green Ensemble

• Jaron Raphael Bentley – Tiny Tim, Urchin
• Sarah Jessica Bentley – Ignorance, Cider Kid, Past Attendant, Urchin
• Cheyenne Alyssa Evans – Schoolboy, Urchin
• Christopher D.A. Evans – Peter, Schoolboy, Urchin
• Makenna Hosey – Past Attendant, Urchin
• Aspen Meyer – Fan, Urchin
• Rian Amirikal Page – Fred’s Daughter, Urchin
• Georgia Reynolds – Schoolboy, Wendy, Spoiled Child, Urchin
• Imi Schneider – Want, Cider Kid, Past Attendant, Urchin
• Christopher Varner – Turkey Boy, Boy Scrooge, Fred’s Son, Urchin
• Christian (CJ) Varner, Jr. – Teen Scrooge, Urchin
• Devynn Yakel – Belinda, Past Attendant, Urchin

Blue Ensemble

• Laine Auffenberg – Schoolboy, Wendy, Spoiled Child, Urchin
• Milo Baker – Turkey Boy, Boy Scrooge, Fred’s Son, Urchin
• Alexander Curtis – Ignorance, Cider Kid, Urchin
• Danity Gates – Belinda, Past Attendant, Urchin
• Kaelyn Mccurtis – Fan, Urchin
• Vincent Emmanuel Meyer – Young Scrooge, Urchin
• Margot Perkowski – Past Attendant, Urchin
• Arden Renee Powell – Schoolboy, Fred’s Daughter, Urchin
• Lorelai Radu – Want, Cider Kid, Past Attendant, Urchin
• Spencer Slavik – Peter, Schoolboy, Urchin
• Rachel Spizler – Tiny Tim, Past Attendant, Urchin

After awakening on Christmas Day, Scrooge does something in the play that is not from the book. He invites everyone he meets to come to his home for an afternoon party. Dickens had no need to assemble all his characters for the book’s final scene, but a joyous finale for the full ensemble is a great way to end a play.

—Gerry Kowarsky

Photo by T. Charles Erickson Photo
The finale of A Christmas Carol at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis.