There’s Still Time to Catch Trinity Rep’s ‘A Christmas Carol’ at PPAC

For the first time in nearly fifty years, Trinity Rep’s ‘A Christmas Carol’ is being performed outside the theater — just down the street at the Providence Performing Arts Center. Photo by Trinity Rep/Mark Turek.

You might think that building a portable stage for one of Rhode Island’s most treasured holiday traditions — and having to haul that stage almost a half-mile through downtown Providence — would be a daunting challenge.

But for Michael McGarty, who’s been designing sets for Trinity Rep for more than forty years, it was just another creative problem that needed a solution.

“It’s fairly unusual for Trinity to do something like this,” he says, but many Trinity folks have experience with touring productions and are used to the many details needed to set up, dismantle and pack up a set. “It’s more sophisticated today than it was, say, thirty years ago, but it’s nonetheless the same gig.”

Trinity Rep has been staging A Christmas Carol at the Providence Performing Arts Center since late November due to renovations at its upstairs Chace Theater. The much-needed work will improve accessibility to the circa-1917 building, replace the elevator and add a state-of-the-art lighting system, new seats and a new stage to the Chace Theater.

Mauro Hantman as Jacob Marley and Anne Scurria as Ebenezer Scrooge in Trinity Rep’s production of “A Christmas Carol.” Photo by Trinity Rep/Mark Turek.

In preparation for the work, Trinity needed to find a new home for the forty-eighth production of A Christmas Carol.  

“We actually looked at a number of places that were outside of the downtown area, because we didn’t think that PPAC would be available. And then somebody said, ‘Why don’t you call PPAC?,’” says Artistic Director Curt Columbus. “And Lynn Singleton, who is just the most wonderful guy, said, ‘We really want to invite you in,’ and so here we are.”

The main design challenge was adapting an intimate production — Trinity’s Chace Theater seats 500 patrons — to a much larger venue that seats more than 3,100. McGarty was also challenged with designing something portable that would fit through various doors and into trucks for transporting.

Admittedly not a fan of PPAC’s proscenium stage, McGarty took a week to wrap his head about how he would approach the project.

“What eventually occurred to me was that it was Trinity Rep doing a Trinity Rep production that just happened to be in PPAC,” he says. “Once I realized that I decided how I needed to approach the space.”

Firo Oliva Ridge as Reader Kid and Rudy Cabrera as Reader in Trinity Rep’s production of “A Christmas Carol.” Photo by Trinity Rep/Mark Turek.

He came up with a stage that had three simple elements: A ceiling that cut the height of the proscenium in half, a back wall of steel scaffolding, and two wagons that move throughout the space. No doors, no windows, no walls.

He tried to create as small a space as he possibly could for what is arguably a fairly big show. The scaffolding, which gives off industrial vibes, is practical: It’s easy and fast to put together, he says, something that would come in handy when the stage had to be disassembled for Hamilton’s run, which came in the middle of A Christmas Carol’s production.

One advantage of building the set inside Trinity Rep is that the actors had the set in place for rehearsals, instead of tape marking where set pieces would be. It was easily broken down and set up at PPAC for its run from late November to Dec. 4. It was disassembled and brought back to Trinity during Hamilton’s run from Dec. 11–22, and will be reassembled at PPAC for the remainder of the shows, which take place Dec. 26–29.

The crew had only two and a half days to move the stage into PPAC. They normally have ten.

Michael McGarty’s set for “A Christmas Carol” brings the intimacy of the regional theater into PPAC’s opulent space. Photo by Trinity Rep/Mark Turek.

McGarty helped choose the script in conjunction with director Tatyana-Marie Carlo. They decided on an Adrian Hall version that McGarty had worked on in the ’80s, which he feels is closer to Charles Dickens’ version of the story, and which has a “reader” character that helps pull the story together and keep it moving.

Although it’s been challenging to find a new home, Columbus is hopeful that the play — and Trinity Rep itself — will find new fans in PPAC patrons who might not otherwise see a show across downtown. And he hopes that the themes of redemption, love and hope will resonate with them as well.

“I’ve seen this nineteen times now, but it still has such power to move you,” he says. “It’s so beautiful. In the world today, we need stories about redemption and joy and people being kind to each other.”

A Christmas Carol runs Dec. 26–29 at the Providence Performing Arts Center, 220 Weybosset St., Providence, 421-ARTS, ppacri.org. Ticket prices start at $47.50. During the run, the Rhode Island Foundation will match every donation the public makes to Trinity Rep with an equal grant to the Rhode Island Community Food Bank, up to a total of $75,000. You can donate at trinityrep.com/match or by texting SCROOGE to 44-321.

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