Review: “YOUR LOCAL THEATER PRESENTS: A CHRISTMAS CAROL, BY CHARLES DICKENS, AGAIN” at La Jolla Playhouse

You’ve seen “A Christmas Carol” from the audience's perspective during performances, and La Jolla Playhouse offers a new angle from the green room behind the scenes of the production in “Your Local Theater Presents: A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, Again,” playing through December 15th.

In this production, “A Christmas Carol” is being performed, but the audience isn’t here for that - instead, they spend their time backstage with the performers on the final performance of their run on Christmas Eve.  When it begins, Eddie (Miles G. Jackson) is fresh out of acting school and finds a way to work his alma mater into every conversation he can.  In this production, Eddie plays Fred, Scrooge’s nephew, to meet his work minimum to qualify for health insurance. Eddie is happy to do this role now since he is sure he will be off to bigger and better things in the future.

As the play progresses, we see that Eddie returns annually to the show, and as the years pass from 1997 to 2001, 2010, and 2023, we can see how his castmates come and go while life and roles evolve.

The cast includes Marco Barricelli, Juliet Brett, Xavier J. Bush, Tony Larkin, and Maria Elena Ramirez, with Kailey Madoka Agpaoa and Victor A Morris as understudies.  

Directed by Les Waters, the show has fun highlighting the quirky band of actors that have come together to put on a show. It lovingly pokes fun at silly-sounding warm-ups to the many different personalities of the performers, from the pretentious and ambitious new actors to the relentlessly driven child actors to the more seasoned actors who ignore it all to get the job done. Don’t forget the stressed-out stage manager who is just trying to keep everything running and get everyone quiet because the house is open, and the audience can hear them!

Jackson’s Eddie journeys from young, ambitious, and judging of those who have found themselves returning to this show and these parts year after year to years later, a man who himself returns and behaves similarly to those who came before him.

Barricelli plays Oliver, the older actor playing Scrooge. Oliver admits to his questionable behavior but does his best to guide Eddie to avoid repeating his mistakes. His initial transformation from Oliver warming up into Scrooge shows that while Oliver may not be flawed, he is an excellent actor. 

Each cast member has a moment to shine, from Brett as a series of child actors of varying degrees of talent to Larkin as a practical actor who just wants to get home to his kids and Bush as an excited actor who just booked a TV pilot. Ramirez is especially entertaining as Nina, Oliver’s wife, who joined the cast much to his displeasure, and the stage manager, who is roped into covering a character at the last moment.

In the end, it shows how, together,  this crazy crew can create a magical moment as the actors take the stage while the stage manager calls the cues.

How To Get Tickets 

“Your Local Theater Presents: A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, Again” is a holiday classic with a theatrical twist through December 15th.

Photo Credit: Miles G. Jackson (left) and Marco Barricelli in La Jolla Playhouse’s world-premiere production of “Your Local Theater Presents: A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens, Again.” (Rich Soublet II)

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