Earlier this year, the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park made the decision to cancel its annual production of A Christmas Carol — a fact that saddened even the most miserly of holiday Scrooges.
The staging of the Charles Dickens classic (adapted for theater by Howard Dallin) is a three-decade-old local tradition and was already slated to see some changes due to COVID-19.
In an interview with CityBeat theater critic Rick Pender in July, Playhouse artistic director Blake Robison said they were planning to do a solo rendition of A Christmas Carol this year.
The one-man stage adaptation was to run Dec. 1-27 with an alternating pair of actors to bring “a little bit of holiday cheer and avoiding theatrical coal in everyone’s stockings,” Robison said. He added that the typical Playhouse production “would not be possible — with 28 actors onstage and nearly as many backstage.”
You know, not enough social distancing, issues with that many humans onstage projecting their voices and possible germs onto each other and the audience, etc.
But, the Playhouse — and radio station WVXU — have found a novel solution to this Christmas quandry.
Actor Bruce Cromer, whose beloved embodiment of Ebenezer Scrooge has anchored A Christmas Carol at the Playhouse for more than a decade, recently recorded a one-man rendition of Charles Dickens’ classic holiday story about a miser who is taught the true meaning of Christmas by ghostly visitations. With recording and sound effect assistance from Matthew M. Nielson — the sound designer of many Playhouse Mainstage shows — Cromer used a 60-minute adaptation of the script that Dickens created for his own speaking engagements in the 19th century.
Robison, the Playhouse’s artistic director, said, “Until it is safe to bring back the full ensemble for the Playhouse’s annual production, we invite the community to celebrate the spirit of the holidays from the comfort of home with A Christmas Carol on the radio. Bruce Comer is beloved as Scrooge, and now we’ll get to experience his immense talent and this holiday favorite in an imaginative new way.”
It airs (for free) on 91.7 WVXU (and 88.5 WMUB) at 8 p.m. on Dec. 23 and repeats at 7 p.m. on Dec. 24. It will be archived on wvxu.org after the 24th.
Listeners can tune in to 91.7 WVXU and 88.5 WMUB, stream the performance at wvxu.org or download the station’s free app.
This article appears in The Holiday Issue.
