The Ebenezeer Scrooge of Christmases past is back on stage in the present tense.
Gary Chappel has portrayed the iconic character three times, now that he has been cast in the current production of A Christmas Carol staged by Judy Russell Presents. He will once again pinch his pennies and freeze love out of his heart on the stage of the Prince George Playhouse, but as legendary writer Charles Dickens shows us, there is always a warm glow of hope for any cruel miser.
Anyone familiar with Chappel will know that he has been cast ironically. There is typecasting but in his case with Scrooge it is anti-typecasting. The actor is as affable and giving of himself (he is a youth-care worker by profession) as Scrooge is heartless and antisocial.
"I am grateful and humbled to receive the role of Scrooge again. I guess I must be doing something right," he said, with a bashful chuckle.
There are many people in this cast of A Christmas Carol who have been in the show in past years, but many of them are in different roles, and many rookies are also in the mix. Chappel is an anchor in his familiar lead role.
It comes with the benefit of knowing the substantial amount of lines and physical blocking, and each time he gets to inhabit the Dickens protagonist he gets to colour the character a little more deeply.
"This third time round I have noticed during the rehearsal process I am listening more closely,internally and to what the other actors are saying and doing on stage," he said. "In response, I have evolved a more layered, dynamic character. At least I feel I have. I have found greater humour and wit, resentment and shame, pain and joy - a more human Scrooge."
There is a bubble of timelessness that has floated A Christmas Carol from 1843 on to today. It is still a common and favourite story told at Christmastime despite the better part of two centuries going by since it was first published in Victorian England.
"Even though it was in a very different time and a different place, it still rings very true," Chappel said. "It is still important to try, always, to be a better person, it is still important to think about how we can take care of the people in our community and the people in our world. We all can do a little more, care a little more, and mostly love a great deal more. In this incredible world we have, we need love greater than ever. For we are the custodians, the only ones who can create a positive change for the betterment of all. This is what I most wish to convey to the audience, aside from them being thoroughly entertained."
Chappel loves the mix in the cast of younger and older actors, those with experience on the stage and those getting their first credits.
"That's what community theatre is all about - your friends and neighbours making live theatre happen for you," Chappel said.
Acting is not the main profession for any of these performers, but they have all focused on it with appetite and some, like Chappel, it could easily be their careers if they had so chosen.
Chappel would also be remembered by local audiences as cranky Mr. Banks in the Judy Russell production of Mary Poppins in 2016, as the heartbreaking grocer Herr Schultz in last year's presentation of Cabaret, as as Thenardier the inn keeper in Les Miserables five years ago, and he was most recently involved in a professional production to a closed audience as he portrayed lifelike scenes to help train field workers in the social services professions.
In a way, he is doing exactly the same thing for us all as Scrooge goes through his emotional and psychological journey in A Christmas Carol running at the Prince George Playhouse from today through Dec. 22. Tickets are on sale now at the Central Interior Tickets website.
