Philly’s holiday theater on stage and digital: ‘A Christmas Carol’ (two versions) and ‘The Carols’

When actor Anthony Lawton was a teenager, born into a family of football-playing brothers, his siblings spent holiday afternoons in rough-and-tumble games outdoors.

Not Lawton.

He sat alone, quietly, in the living room, next to his family’s lit-up Christmas tree, and listened, in wonder and love, to a reading of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” on an LP.

“With that radio play, I got into the heart and the meaning of it,” said Lawton. These days, for the month of December, Lawton returns to the heart and the meaning of the Dickens classic tale of redemption in a solo presentation of “A Christmas Carol” staged by the Lantern Theater Co. — one that has earned him kudos aplenty from reviewers in several previous years.

For 95 minutes, Lawton, alone on the stage with no props and no change of costume, plays more than 20 characters, from Ebenezer Scrooge to Tiny Tim, as well as Tiny Tim’s mother and Scrooge’s fiancee. Lawton developed the play in collaboration with stage and lighting design pros Thom Weaver and Christopher Colucci.

Originally Lawton conceived of the play as him, a chair, and a Christmas tree, with all the lighting coming from the tree. But Weaver and Colucci urged a more active performance, drawing on Lawton’s movement around the stage plus lighting and sound to create the perception of crowds, the presence of others, and the passage of time.

Depending on his mood, Lawton said, he’ll identify with different characters on different days — most often with either Scrooge, or Bob Cratchit, Scrooge’s overworked and underappreciated assistant.

When Lawton first performed the play (this is his fourth year), he had been working with a trainer, which was fortunate. The show’s 95 minutes are physically grueling, Lawton said. “At the end of the run, I’m exhausted.”

In 2020, the show was aired digitally. Meanwhile Lawton, like so many others, fell out of shape during the pandemic, he said. This year, Lawton trained for and completed the Philadelphia Marathon in November. “I’m glad I did it, because the stamina I gained is helping me out for this run,” he said.

When on stage, Lawton draws strength from the audience. As he dons his costume and applies his makeup, settling into his role, he glances at a quotation hung nearby. It’s a long one about audiences laughing — or not, or at the wrong spots, or being silent, or not listening, and it ends with these words: “One person is certain to know and to understand … and I act for him.”

Over the weeks and many performances, Lawton takes those words to heart.

“If the audience responds at all — and it takes very little for me to feel it — I [can tell] they are hearing it for the first time,” Lawton said, “and that prompts me to respond as if telling it for the first time.”

Lantern is also offering a digital version of “A Christmas Carol.” In addition, you can still buy tickets to watch “Me and the Devil,” about a blues player’s ill-conceived bargain with you-know-who. Extended on demand streaming through Feb. 27.

Through Dec. 30 at the Drake Theatre, 302 S. Hicks St., Philadelphia. Masks and vaccine proof required. An on-demand digital version is available through Jan. 2. For tickets, information, 215-829-0395, lanterntheater.org.

It’s lucky for Anthony Lawton that digital was invented because he’s also part of a cast of Philly favorite actors in “The Carols,” an online presentation from 1812 Productions. Others include Mary Martello, Rachel Camp, Caroline Dooner, TJ Harris, and Emily Kleimo. Christopher Colucci designed the sound for this presentation, conceived and directed by Jennifer Childs, 1812′s producing artistic director.

The story: It’s Christmastime in 1943, in the middle of World War II. And while the war is raging in Europe, neighbors gather at the VFW post to enjoy the holiday together, making the best of what they have. And the best of what they have is sure to include laughs aplenty from 1812, dedicated to creating comedy.

Through Jan. 2 for on-demand streaming. For tickets, information, 1812productions.org, 215-592-9560.

Update: The remaining on-stage performances of A Christmas Carol at People’s Light have been canceled due to ongoing concerns with the COVID-19 pandemic. The 12/30, 12/31, 1/1, and 1/2 shows will not be held. The streaming option listed below is available.

And speaking of carols, People’s Light’s on-stage version of “A Christmas Carol,” set to close Jan. 2, has completely sold out. Zak Berkman, People’s producing director, adapted the Dickens classic and also wrote original music for it. Luckily, a digital version is available for streaming from Dec. 24 through Jan. 6.

Dec. 24 through Jan. 6, digital version of “A Christmas Carol.” For tickets, information, peopleslight.org or 610-644-3500.

Philadelphia Theatre Co. board chairman lawyer David L. Cohen, unanimously ratified by the U.S. Senate as ambassador to Canada, has left the board as he assumes his new responsibilities. Replacing him is Gary Deutsch, the board’s vice chairman. Deutsch is the managing chief counsel for consumer finance litigation at PNC bank.

Also leaving, but not departing as quickly, is Paige Price, producing artistic director. “Like so many of us, my family and I have evaluated our lives during this great disruption and decided that a lifestyle straddling our careers in two cities is not sustainable,” Price wrote in the theater company’s newsletter.

Price, who joined Philadelphia Theatre Co. five years ago, has been commuting from New York City, where she lives with her husband, Nevin Steinberg, a Broadway sound designer. She intends to work from there as an independent theater producer.

Paige will finish out the 2021-2022 theater season. Next up is “Choir Boy” in February, directed by resident artist Jeffrey Page, and “Where We Belong,” a world premiere by Madeline Sayet in April. Price promises to return in the fall for “The Tattooed Lady,” a musical and the first play commissioned by the company.

As the board hires an executive search firm to find a replacement for Price, Emily Zeck, managing director, will guide the theater.