Children and grown-ups are always pushovers for A Christmas Carol at Playhouse in the Park, now 10 years young.

        Little ones like its magic, with the huge Victorian set pieces that speed about the stage and the eerie sounds that come at you from all over the theater. They like the lively music and dancing and the tale's thrilling darkness, leavened by Carol's rich vein of humor.

        Grown-ups marvel at the quality of the production (the work by the design team resides in local theater's Hall of Fame.)

        Too, we like to be reminded (and once a year is not too often) of the meaning of Christmas and the responsibilities of humankind. It's no bad thing to be persuaded that any cold heart and colder soul can be reclaimed.
       

A tough audience

       

        This year I saw A Christmas Carol with a packed house of mostly high school students. High schoolers can be a very tough audience, because they're not inclined to fall victim to sentiment.

        I am happy to report that by the end of Carol, they were whistling and cheering. They hadn't fallen victim to sentiment, they'd been caught up and enveloped by a very large heart.

        A Christmas Carol is, of course, Charles Dickens' rip-roaring holiday ghost story about miserly Ebenezer Scrooge who is visited one fateful Christmas Eve by a trio of spirits.

        They respectively return him to his past, remind him of his present and warn him of the future and in so doing thaw his frozen heart.

        Carol continues to be the most emotionally satisfying holiday entertainment, inviting both laughter and tears, thanks to the thoughtful direction of Michael Haney, who clearly celebrates the truth and wisdom of this grand holiday adventure.
       

Treasure as Ebenezer

       

        Joneal Joplin's grouches as Scrooge are scary and sly and funny by turn. He's a treasure of an Ebenezer and he makes the Grinch look like an amateur.

        Bruce Cromer is always a joy as stork-legged shop assistant Bob Cratchit, and it's hard to imagine a better Marley's Ghost than Greg Procaccino.

        Mr. Procaccino is equally fun as a vile old ragpicker, and the vignette is better than ever with Dale Hodges stepping in as Scrooge's housekeeper and heightening the byplay as she sells the linens right off her employer's dead body.

        The Cratchit kids are most engaging this year. They are locals Mary Jesse Price, Dustin Hicks, Katie Johannigman and Adam Weinel.

        A Christmas Carol, Playhouse in the Park Marx Theatre through Dec. 30, 421-3888.
       

Have yourself a tuneful little Christmas
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