New Scrooge debuts in Alliance Theatre’s ‘A Christmas Carol’

The Alliance production has been a holiday custom for 25 years now – a whopping 16 of which featured Kayser as the iconic curmudgeon Ebenezer Scrooge. For theatergoers who've made an annual tradition of seeing it, Kayser effectively was Scrooge. Last year, though, the veteran Atlanta actor announced he was taking his final bow in the role.

Like the famous Dickens character, who awakes on Christmas morning with a revitalized outlook on life, the Alliance’s silver-anniversary edition of “A Christmas Carol” (Nov. 21-Dec. 24) could benefit in getting a breath of fresh air from the casting of a new leading man: David de Vries.

You’d think that therein also lies part of the challenge for de Vries, in terms of making the character his own. Or that, while he’s no less accomplished an actor than Kayser, he probably finds himself in an unenviable position of living up to and otherwise following a decidedly hard act. But de Vries doesn’t necessarily look at it that way.

“My real challenge is that it’s one of the greatest roles ever written, period,” he says. “I’d put Dickens right up there with Shakespeare. You can’t really think of any more transformative an arc than the one Scrooge undergoes, or many other characters that give an actor quite as much to sink his teeth into. I’ve wanted to do this for a long time now.”

Consider it a promotion of sorts for the actor. In his two previous stints with the show, de Vries played Bob Cratchit in the Alliance’s 1992 mounting (directed by Kenny Leon and starring Tom Key), and he appeared as Jacob Marley in its 2011 version (opposite Kayser).

Just don’t ask him how his interpretation of Scrooge might differ from Kayser’s – or any other actor’s, for that matter.

“All I can do is take my journey with the character as I see it, within the context of Dickens’ original story and David Bell’s script and (director) Rosemary Newcott’s vision, to get inside it and experience it as if it were absolutely true.

The actors have been friends and colleagues since the late ’80s, when de Vries (as a director) cast Kayser in a couple of plays at the now-defunct Theatre in the Square (“Foxfire,” “Of Mice and Men”). As de Vries puts it, “We’ve been working together for decades, played a lot of tennis over the years, and always had a great and congenial relationship.”

Newcott – who has worked in various capacities on all but one of the Alliance’s 25 “Christmas Carols,” including directing 14 of them – doesn’t hestitate to note the differences between the two actors’ portrayal of Scrooge.

“Chris brought a unique physicality to it, because he used to be a dancer. David’s more about the psychology of it. Chris’ Scrooge was more lovably cantankerous. David’s is edgier, almost downright scary,” she says.

“It’s been so much fun in rehearsals, watching someone else discovering different things about the role, and it’s great to see how that impacts the whole show, how it invigorates the whole company, reacting to and working off of a new Scrooge. It’s the same story, but that keeps it exciting.”

To be sure, most of the ensemble members have been doing the show for years. In addition to Wells, there’s Bart Hansard (as Mr. Fezziwig and the Ghost of Christmas Present), Andrew Benator (Jacob Marley), Neal Ghant and Cynthia Barker (Bob and Mrs. Cratchit), Courtney Patterson (Belle) and Joe Knezevich (Fred).

When he isn’t appearing on stages in Atlanta, de Vries lands occasional roles in film (“Remember the Titans” with Denzel Washington, “Leatherheads” with George Clooney) and on TV (guest spots in the series “Drop Dead Diva” and “Reckless”), and he’s also frequently employed as a narrator of audio books.

He spent several years performing “Beauty and the Beast” on Broadway (as Lumiere) and on the road with the national touring company of “Wicked” (as Dr. Dillamond). Up next, in April he returns to directing with John Patrick Shanley’s “Storefront Church” at Theatrical Outfit.

For now, ’tis the season for another spectacular rendition of the Alliance’s “A Christmas Carol” – with all the lavish production values, amazing special effects and festive musical interludes that audiences have come to expect and cherish from the show over the last 25 years. Only its Scrooge has changed, more or less.

Just as this year’s production marks the end of one era, so does it represent the dawn of another one. How perfectly fitting, in light of what Ebenezer Scrooge endures. While his epiphany happens overnight, the future of the Alliance’s “Christmas Carol” remains in progress.