BETHEL - After directing Broadway, film, and television actor Graeme Malcolm as Scrooge in the David Thompson adaptation of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, N.J., Director Michael Unger has enticed the mutton-chopped Scottish actor to reprise that role in this year's NewArts-Walnut Hill Community Church production of that timeless holiday classic.Equus, and who played Pharaoh in the musical Aida by Elton John and Tim Rice, has also been seen in recent years playing various roles on programs from The Good Wife and Boardwalk Empire, to various roles in a couple of the Law & Order franchise.Safe in Hell at the Yale Repertory Theatre in New Haven, or his work as Captain Lancey in the 2007 Broadway production of Translations at New York's Biltmore Theatre.The Newtown BeeChristmas Carol productions.While Malcolm said that he owed the NewArts director a debt of gratitude for casting him to play such a huge role as Scrooge, Unger toldA Christmas Carol.the theater facility tucked inside the massive church. "I've had funny Scrooges, but Graeme from his first read-through six years ago to his final performance at McCarter, lived this role so authentically; he's got some milage on him, he's got the life experience, he's really one of the deeper actors I've seen inhabit this role."Perfectly Typed'Something To Add'A Christmas Carol for NewArts/Walnut Hill are Jennifer Paulson Lee (choreography), Brian Prather (sets and projection design), Patty Hibbert (costumes), and Betsy Chester (associate lighting design). Theresa S. Carroll is the production coordinator, Samantha Stambuck is the stage manager, and Ana Dratz is the technical director.Performances are scheduled for Thursdays through Saturdays, November 30, December 1-2 and 7-9, at 7 pm; and Saturdays and Sundays, December 2-3 and 9-10, at 2 pm at the Walnut Hill Community Church, 156 Walnut Hill Road. Tickets range from $12 to $26. For more information visit newarts.orgwalnuthillcc.org.. To learn more about WHCC, visit Get a few glimpses of actor Graeme Malcolm as Scrooge when he performed the role at Princeton, New Jersey's McCarter Theatre in 2014:

Malcolm, who starred beside Daniel Radcliffe in the latest Broadway revival of 

Local audiences may recall his 2005 appearance in the Amy Freed play 

  that the perfectly typed actor made the part his own among the five Scrooges who have been cast to date in his 

Last winter, Unger brought in veteran actor James Ludwig to play the infamous miser after relocating the production following a 16-year run directing the holiday favorite at Princeton's McCarter Theatre. The show not only found what was described as a "perfect partnership" with Walnut Hill Community Church in Bethel, but also drew some actors from the church's own previous productions of 

"While admitting he was too young to play Scrooge, Jimmy did a wonderful job last year," Unger said during an interview at

Watching the actor early-on during his involvement at McCarter, Unger said Malcolm makes his audience feel Scrooge's journey from curmudgeon to optimistic convert.

"He will blow your mind," Unger said. "I don't know there are many stronger regional actors around, and I can't imagine anyone better to play Scrooge."

The actor's tall, lanky features and flinty delivery, according to the director, help bring a Dickensian realism to the stage.

"In lot of productions, the Scrooge is played as just nasty, but from the moment our curtain goes up, you understand that Graeme's Scrooge feels put upon by the world. He's not asking for your sympathy because he doesn't need it. But you can't help but feel sympathy for him because he is so genuine," Unger said. "When he says 'I'm generous to a fault,' you have to laugh because it's an oxymoron. But he actually believes he is generous. Why should Scrooge pay someone for a day off when he doesn't get paid on his day off."

The director said he appreciates Malcolm's resistance to go for a laugh.

"He plays it with such intelligence and humanity, that when you get to the end and see his transformation, it just breaks your heart because you actually are invested in him as a horrible person at first, which is monumental in itself. But when you see him in certain scenes, he is one of the most empathic actors you could ever see in this role," Unger observed. "He is so moving."

For Malcolm, number seven may be the charm as it represents the number of turns he has had to play Scrooge under Unger's direction. And while the stage space is different from that of the McCarter, he said after walking around and seeing many of the same sets that traveled to Bethel with Unger for the NewArts version, he felt a great deal of familiarity.

Breathing life into Scrooge for the first time eight years ago, Malcolm recalled the "terrifying" experience.

"It's an hour and a half where the character doesn't leave the stage," Malcolm said. "He flies, which is hard work, he runs around a lot, he falls through a hole in the stage, and I was walking into an existing production with Michael that was already successfully running for ten years. So it was slotting me into bits and pieces that most of the actors had seen played by others before me. What worried me was my stamina, but I came to realize that my stamina is better when I'm working all the time."

To be used all the time playing Scrooge, Malcolm said, was actually a treat. As far as inhabiting the character so naturally, the Broadway veteran said while most people are familiar with Scrooge from childhood, he had never seen a live performance of the role.

"It is not done in England as much as it is done here, but of course Scrooge is a character whose name has become part of our language," Malcolm said. "Somebody asked me what is a Scrooge, as if it was something more than a character - an actual person from literature. But I was always looking for the why. Why is he like this, so angry and bitter? And you go through the story and start finding out why. So the 'bah humbug' was not just a cliche expression - Scrooge brings a lot of baggage behind it."

The actor said he has played a lot of leading roles, from Victorian to Shakespearean, but even his most recent portrayal of King Lear did not offer the level of acting juice Malcolm said he got from playing Scrooge.

"King Lear has a lot of time off. He does a major scene and then he leaves for awhile," Malcolm said. "It wasn't the size of this role as Scrooge that bothered me. The audience is watching the story play out through his eyes. What's it like to confront a younger version of yourself? What's it like to see ghosts? I don't believe in ghosts, so the rules are off - how do you behave and how does the ghost behave?"

Malcolm said instead of falling back on the same old Scrooge every production, he instead pushes himself to always discover something new in the role.

"Then it has the potential to be even better for me and for my colleagues up there on stage with me," he said. "I'm still finding something else to add to it."

The stamp of approval, both from the director's and the audience standpoint, was being asked to come back and play Scrooge again, and again.

"I was delighted to come back a third, a fourth, a fifth, and a sixth time," he said. "It's a great compliment to me to be asked to do this role over and over. It has unusual responsibilities because there are a lot of kids in the show, about which I'm delighted because I come from a teaching and education background. It's so nice to be reconnecting again to these kids. And every time I come back."

Malcolm recalled that after his first turn as Scrooge under Unger, the director approached him with appreciation for giving him a Scrooge that every director asks for and could ever want.

"But Unger kept feeding me, and I kept asking him questions. And if something didn't work, he was open to trying something else," Malcolm said of his director. "We've had an extremely successful relationship. Otherwise I wouldn't be back.

"I wouldn't have come back for the second year at McCarter if I didn't have tremendous respect for Michael. I love the way he reacts with people, whether it's a tiny child or a 70-year-old. He's a beautiful man and a lovely director."

According to Unger, this year's performance features approximately 112 local actors and dancers working beside Malcolm, plus dozens of others volunteering for various technical and production responsibilities.

Adapting 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks1xSIi3Unw

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