I’ve long been an admirer of Good Medicine Productions’ mission to bring quality performances to hospitals, nursing homes, and other situations that don’t get much theater. So I was overjoyed to get the invitation to see their immersive A Christmas Carol adaptation/fundraiser Uptown Scrooge, created and directed by Kristie Koehler Vuocolo.
Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol is a classic for a reason, a framework everyone knows enough to follow the malleable changes as long as it hits the main beats. Koehler Vuocolo and her energetic cast know this and use exactly enough of the original piece to craft an experience that makes excellent use of the three-block radius of uptown Westerville, and keeps the lessons of the story about generosity and empathy at the fore of everyone’s mind while having a lot of laughs.
The empathy starts with name tags – all the participants put our first name above the already marked “Scrooge,” and we’re reminded throughout that we’re all Scrooge here – or at least that we all have those tendencies. The group is led by a host – at times Marley, at times a more specific narrator, and at times the ghosts of Christmas Past and Present – through streets and alleys and into backrooms, restaurants and shops.
The performers rotate, but in the case of my tour, we were lucky to have Christina Yoho, whom I’ve reviewed here several times. She approached the roles with relish, sometimes gently scolding us, sometimes cheerleading as the MC. Some of my favorite moments came with pitch-perfect modulations of tone where suddenly there’d be a quiet moment (a devastating tale in the middle of Westerville Florist; someone called out of the group to send Scrooge’s first love, Belle, away, in the entryway of the old State Theater, currently Barrel and Boar) between wild, best kind of the over-the-top intensity. Those subtle reinforcements gave the show a heft, an impact, without ever crossing the line into being heavy.
The other actors on my tour were similarly fantastic. Andrew Conway’s disco Fezziwig, puppy-dog-affectionate take on Scrooge’s nephew Fred (especially in a charming duet with creator Kristie Koehler Vuocolo as Scrooge’s sister Belle), and ominous Ghost of Christmas Future kept the performance moving and gave it a lot of heart. Koehler Vuocolo’s Fanny and Belle, along with an antic Bob Cratchit, fleshed out the world in a palpable, human way. I may have been most impressed by Luna Peterson as Tiny Tim, a self-aware version who verges on meta in an adorable way and consistently raises the energy level.
There’s a beautiful lack of self-consciousness encouraged in Uptown Scrooge that evokes a childlike wonder if you can give yourself over to it. Any hangups about looking silly need to be left at the door for Marley’s funeral, because I found myself singing with strangers on State Street, call-and-responding “Bah Humbug,” and a number of things I wouldn’t have expected an autumn Sunday to include. I also found myself forgetting which direction was right and left, while trying to do the Hustle and almost running into someone more than once (apologies to whoever was on that trip with me). That does lead to a particular caveat: if participation isn’t your thing, this may not be for you. If you have anxiety issues, shyness, or even just an aversion to being called on, I didn’t see a good mechanism to opt out of that as part of this experience.
Uptown Scrooge worked in ways I expected and ways I was surprised by. I can’t remember the last time I was this charmed and delighted.
It burned off every bit of Christmas Carol fatigue – even addressed directly by Yoho on my tour – and kicked off the season with feelings of goodwill toward my fellow people.
Uptown Scrooge runs through December 18, with performances on Saturday and Sunday afternoons starting at 30 E. College Ave. in Westerville. For tickets, performance times and more info, visit goodmedicineproductions.org.