A & E

Whether you like something traditional for your holiday theatergoing or prefer some variety or challenge this holiday season, area producers are willing to oblige.

For some companies, it's a time to trot out Charles Dickens' 1843 tale of ghostly visits and joyful redemption or stage the fourth return visit of the area's favorite nun presiding over a Christmas classroom.

Others celebrate the holidays by choosing a different title from the canon of Christmas-themed plays. And then there are those who deliberately choose to counter-program their Christmas season slot.

Christmas alternatives

For 13 seasons, Little Lake Theatre artistic director Sunny Disney Fitchett was of the "if it's December, it's time to do 'A Christmas Carol'" mindset.

But in 1991 and 1992, when Pittsburgh Musical Theater and Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera began offering competing productions of "A Lyrical Christmas Carol" and "A Musical Christmas Carol," Fitchett decided it was time for a change.

"There was a lot of resistance to doing something different, because people wanted to keep doing it and keep coming to see it," Fitchett says.

She started shopping around for other holiday plays and now prides herself on offering different works each year.

"The truth is I like the challenge of finding new things every season, and I think the audience enjoys that," she says. "Our Christmas shows sell out, and people love that we pick a variety and diversity of shows."

Over the years, the Peters-based company has done shows such as "Inspecting Carol," "A Tuna Christmas" and "Uh-Oh, Here Comes Christmas."

This year, Little Lake is staging its third production of "A Christmas Story," which it last did in 2005.

"It fits the bill for both adults and kids, so we can schedule matinees and evening performances," Fitchett says.

Don't mess with tradition

When Van Kaplan became the executive producer of Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera in 1997, one of the questions facing him was whether the company should continue performing "A Musical Christmas Carol" or consider alternatives.

He decided to see the show before making the call.

"I thoroughly fell in love with the show," he says. "This version is quite meaningful. It plays well."

Many people return annually, Kaplan says. Others who first saw it as children are now bringing their children.

"I would be hesitant to change a tradition until people stop going," he says. "You would think (attendance) would have fallen off."

It hasn't, he says. Even though ticket sales some years are weaker than others, sales remain strong.

"A lot of (other Christmas shows) don't have the heart this show does," Kaplan says. "I bring my kids to it every year on opening night. It's a tradition."

Sister returns

After spending three years at City Theatre, "Sister's Christmas Catechism" still attracts enough ticket buyers that it has been invited back for a fourth season. It will play for three weeks on the South Side theater's mainstage.

City Theatre managing director Greg Quinlan looks at "Sister's Christmas Catechism" as a Christmas gift.

"Pittsburgh is very enthusiastic about that nun," Quinlan says. "It helps to fill our coffers and enables us to do more adventurous work."

An additional benefit is that shows such as "Sister's Christmas Catechism" have a wider appeal that helps introduce new theatergoers to City Theatre. Quinlan credits shows such as this with encouraging members of 3,000 new households to give City Theatre shows a try in the past two years.

In the past, City Theatre has produced other Christmas shows, such as "The SantaLand Diaries" and "Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge," but none has had the staying power of "Sister's Christmas Catechism."

"We call it the sassy alternative to traditional fare," Quinlan says.

A different approach

Other companies such as Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre deliberately counter-program an alternative to the usual Christmas titles.

In some years, it's a play such as "The Dead," which was set during the holidays and based on James Joyce's novel. In other years, it's a family-friendly show that has nothing to do with the holiday, such as "Pride and Prejudice."

"I think it's a good time to program," says Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre artistic director Andrew S. Paul. "Almost everything we put on in December has been well attended. There's not much programmed during that time, and what is on is stuff people have seen."

This year, it's two dark, adult plays by Irish playwright Conor McPherson with Christmas references in the titles -- "Dublin Carol" and "St. Nicholas" -- but little evidence of holiday merrymaking.

Paul thinks some theatergoers are hungry for alternatives to holiday fare, and he's happy to supply it.

This year's selections would be more suitable for older teens and adults, he warns.

"These plays have mature themes, and (McPherson) has a tendency to use four-letter words as part of his style of writing," Paul says.

He thinks high school students and those in their 20s and 30s will like "St. Nicholas," while "Dublin Carol" is geared toward Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre's traditionally older audience.

In choosing the two McPherson plays, Paul says he was thinking of theatergoers with tastes similar to his who want to see a play but find it a barren time of year.

During the holiday season, Paul says, "It doesn't seem like anybody is putting out anything of substance."

For those looking for something less contemporary, Paul says, wait till next December: "We're doing Charlotte Bronte's 'Jane Eyre,'" he promises.

Holiday plays

"A Christmas Carol": The Old Schoolhouse Players. Friday through Dec. 14, with performances at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays. Admission: $14; $11 for senior citizens and students; $8 for age 12 and younger. Bud Allison Memorial Auditorium, Mt. Pleasant Township Community Center, 20 Wabash Ave., Hickory. Details: 724-344-7467 or www.osptheater.com.

"A Christmas Carol": Stage Right. 2 and 7 p.m. Dec. 7. Admission: $15 and $20; $10 and $15 for students. Palace Theatre, 21 W. Otterman St., Greensburg. Details: 724-836-8000 or www.thepalacetheatre.org.

"A Christmas Carol": Comtra Theatre. Friday through Dec. 20, with performances at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Admission: $12. Theater is on Route 19 North in Cranberry, about a mile north of Cranberry Mall and the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Details: 724-773-9896 or www.comtratheatre.com.

"A Christmas Story": Little Lake Theatre Company. Through Dec. 14, with performances at 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays, 1:30 and 8 p.m. Saturdays and 1:30 p.m. Sundays. $13.50 and $15; $10 for age 15 and younger. Little Lake Theatre, 500 Lakeside Drive South, Canonsburg. Details: 724-745-6300 or www.littlelaketheatre.org.

"Dublin Carol": Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre. Tonight through Dec. 20, with performances at 7 p.m. Tuesdays, 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays and Dec. 20. $33-$47; $33-$42 for senior citizens; $17 for age 24 and younger. Henry Heymann Theatre on the lower level of the Stephen Foster Memorial, Forbes Avenue at Bigelow Boulevard, Oakland. Details: 412-394-3353 or www.picttheatre.org.

"A Lyrical Christmas Carol": Pittsburgh Musical Theater's Richard E. Rauh Conservatory. 7:30 p.m. Dec. 18-20 and 2 p.m. Dec. 21. Admission: $10 in advance and $20 at the door for adults; $10 for students anytime. New Hazlett Theater, Allegheny Square East, North Side. Details: 412 539-0900, ext. 232, or www.pittsburghmusicals.com.

"A Musical Christmas Carol": Tom Atkins assumes the role of Ebenezer Scrooge. Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera. Friday through Dec. 21, with performances at 7:30 p.m. Fridays; noon, 4 and 8 p.m. Saturdays; and 2 and 6 p.m. Sundays. Admission: $26.50-$44.50; half price for ages 3-14. Byham Theater, Sixth Street at Fort Duquesne Boulevard, Downtown. Details: 412-456-6666 or www.pittsburghCLO.org.

"Nativity: A Christmas Gift": The Shona Sharif African Dance and Drum Ensemble presents African dance, gospel music and the story of Jesus' birth. Friday through Dec. 21, with performances at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 5 p.m. Sundays. $20; $10 for children and senior citizens. Alumni Hall of the University of Pittsburgh, 4227 Fifth Ave., Oakland. Details: 412-648-2276.

"Scrooge Has Left the Building": McCaffery Mysteries puts a new spin on the well-known tale of "A Christmas Carol," with shows at two locations. 7 p.m. Friday and Dec. 12 at Gaetano's Restaurant, 1617 Banksville Road, Banksville. $27.50 includes dinner, dessert, show, nonalcoholic beverages, tax and tip. Details: 800-719-0998. 7 p.m. Saturday at The Rockwood Opera House, 450 W. Main St., Rockwood. $35 includes dinner, dessert, show, nonalcoholic beverages, tax and tip. Details: 814-926-4546.

"Sister's Christmas Catechism: The Mystery of the Magi's Gold": City Theatre Company. Tuesday through Dec. 28, with performances at 7 p.m. Tuesdays and Dec. 22, 8 p.m. most Wednesdays through Fridays, 2 and 5:30 p.m. Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. No performances Dec. 24 and 25. Admission: $35-$60. City Theatre, Bingham and South 13th streets, South Side. Details: 412-431-2489 or CityTheatreCompany.org.

"St. Nicholas": Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre. Dec. 12 through Dec. 20, with performances at 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 7 p.m. Dec. 14 and 8 p.m. Dec. 15. $20; $15 with purchase of "Dublin Carol" ticket. Henry Heymann Theatre, lower level of the Stephen Foster Memorial, Forbes Avenue at Bigelow Boulevard, Oakland. Details: 412-394-3353 or www.picttheatre.org.

"The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge": Flatwoods Productions presents Mark Brown's play, which finds Scrooge has lapsed from his determination to reform and has returned to his cantankerous and penny-pinching ways. 8 p.m. Dec. 12 and 13, 2 p.m. Dec. 14. Dinner begins 90 minutes before performances. Admission: $10 for show; $20 for dinner and show. Curfew Grange, Buena Vista Road and Route 201 South, Flatwoods. Details: 724-785-6896.

'Dublin Carol' a dour take

The first time Larry John Meyers read "Dublin Carol," he wasn't sure he wanted to do it.

"It's a terrific play, beautifully written," he says. "(Playwright Conor) McPherson tells a wonderful story. ... You keep listening, because the story is compelling."

But Meyers had reservations.

"It seemed awfully dour for a holiday show," Meyers says. "McPherson writes plays about alcoholic men who sit and talk a lot about their alcoholism."

The play is set in contemporary Dublin on Christmas Eve. Meyers' character, an undertaker named John Punkett, is sharing funereal memories with his young assistant when Plunkett's long-estranged adult daughter arrives to revisit the past. The daughter's arrival offers the opportunity to right old wrongs.

"I thought it's not a play anyone is going to want to come and see at Christmastime. It's about an alcoholic Irish undertaker on Christmas Eve -- not a lighthearted family entertainment," Meyers says.

But Meyers has gotten comfortable with doing an arguably dark play during the season of light.

"'A Christmas Carol' was not a cheery little epic, and I keep trying to think of parallels between them because of the title," says Meyers, who believes both works offer the promise of redemption.

"This play looks at guilt, mainly over family responsibility," he says. "McPherson has written a play about a character who is having -- or has had -- great difficulty meeting family responsibilities and set (the play) at a time of year when the character would be aware of that."

He enjoys exploring the questions that the play deals with.

"As in any good play, you can say it's not my life or your life. But there are emotions, actions that this character John Plunkett has that are not all that far removed from any man or woman -- family responsibility, regret, guilt -- things that are explored a great deal in this play or the source of that regret," Meyers says.

He thinks it might be comforting to those who fall short of fulfilling the Norman Rockwell or Coca-Cola images of holiday celebrations.

"It's a play for those people, an antidote to all the holiday frou-frou we have," he says.

'St. Nicholas' a tale of hope

When it comes to single-performer shows, Martin Giles is a veteran.

His previous appearances in one-man shows include "Krapp's Last Tape" for Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre, "The SantaLand Diaries" at City Theatre and "Talking With Tennessee" for Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh.

Even with all that experience, it doesn't get easier, says Giles, whose latest solo performance, "St. Nicholas," opens Dec. 12 as a production for Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre.

"It's terrifying," Giles says. "I like to face that down every once in a while. ... It's a different kind of concentration that you have to perform because you are the only one people are looking at."

Despite the festive-sounding title, Giles isn't donning a red suit and white beard to perform as the jolly bringer of presents.

The tale teller in contemporary Irish playwright Conor McPherson's "St. Nicholas" is a cynical, burned-out Dublin theater critic obsessed with a beautiful young actress. After writing a scathing review of her performance in "Salome," he follows her and the troupe to London. Instead of love and forgiveness, he discovers a house full of vampires and the possibility of redemption.

"It's a great little play and fun to do," Giles says. "It's about a middle-aged guy who has been through a lot of life, and these are different vampires who are not exactly like we imagine vampires."

Although definitely not an upbeat or jolly yuletide tale, "St. Nicholas" is set during the Christmas season and contains references to the holiday and Santa Claus.

"Christmas is the end of the old year and the beginning of the new year. That's when redemption is on the horizon or possible, or (when) we can imagine that it is possible," Giles says.

He also thinks McPherson's title is appropriate.

"He's a kind of St. Nicholas who brings the gift of this potentially redemptive story," Giles says. "The story is good to hear. The audience can leave hopeful or knowing they could be hopeful."

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