STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
There are scads of plays retelling Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.”
The one being presented this week by Laughing Stock Theatre is truly a Christmas carol as it presents a musical version of the famous novella.
The production runs at 7 tonight through Saturday, Dec. 23, with a 2 p.m. matinee on Christmas Eve on Sunday, Dec. 24. It is being presented at Community School Theatre off Dollar Drive just south of Sun Valley Resort.
Laughing Stock Theatre first staged “A Christmas Carol—The Musical” in 2006. It continued every year until 2011 when it went to every other year.
The play includes the kick dance “Guess Who Kicked the Bucket Last Night?” and the jig “Fezziwig’s Ball.” And it includes snatches of familiar Christmas carols like “Deck the Halls,” “I Saw Three Ships” and “Hark the Herald Angels Sing.”
But they’re done up in a way you’ve never heard them before
This year’s cast includes 32 children and 15 adults, several of whom are professional actors. Some of the children have been in every production, growing from Tiny Tim to Young Scrooge.
Steve d’Smith plays Scrooge, a miserly businessman who embarks on a journey of transformation thanks to visitations from the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future.
Staging it in a new facility other than nexStage Theatre offers different capabilities, noted Director Patsy Wygle.
“I get to re-imagine the story and how to best tell it using this new space,” she said.
Tickets are $35 for reserved seats, $25 for general seating and $15 for students, available online at www.laughingstocktheater.com or by calling 208-726-9124.