photo by Tim Fuller

The full cast of "Scrooge!" because a Christmas without Ebenezer's triumph over material matters just isn't.....Christmas!               

As promised, Arizona Theatre Company has brought back an even bigger and more dazzling production for it's second consecutive year of “Scrooge!” with book, music and lyrics by Oscar and Grammy-winning Leslie Bricusse.

Once more this tale of miserly Scrooge's transformation into that most jovial of reformed Christmas spirits comes complete with enthusiastically leaping Londoners singing and dancing in their jaunty top hats and finest frocks.

Shuler Hensley also returns in the titular role of Ebenezer Scrooge, making his entrance in a grumpy mood to sing “I Hate People.” Several other members are back from last year's cast, including Stewart Gregory as the Ghost of Jacob Marley and Dennis Tamblyn as Mr. Fezziwig.

Nearly as famous as the players is that remarkable scenic design by Jason Ardizzone-West, accompanied by the projection designs of Brad Peterson, looking more three-dimensional than ever, creating an expansive version of Charles Dickens' “A Christmas Carol” that feels vibrant as Santa's own shopping list and pretty as a Christmas card (costumes designed by Elizabeth Caitlin Ward).

Hensley goes deeper into Scrooge's seasonal malaise, bringing the experience of a Broadway actor and operatic performer who has played opposite Patti LuPone at the Kennedy Center, with the New York Philharmonic and San Francisco Symphony orchestras.

The gradual melting of Hensley's scowling “humbug” attitude while being forced to reconsider his dedicated penny-pinching lifestyle takes place amid stage effects that keep topping themselves one eye-catching turn after another.

No matter whether it is the city's cheery streets or Scrooge's own flights into darker phantasms of past, present and future, everything always feels larger than the theater itself.

These dizzying sets of time-traveling revelations reach far beyond mere reproductions of period furniture and fanciful scenarios, combining computerized effects that can feel like one's own dreams.

So it becomes the players, directed by ATC artistic director Matt August, who serve up all the joys of human kindness. A cast of 28 singers, dancers and townspeople bring a full portion of the season's joyful sauce to the stage.

August himself has fine-tuned the material, working with the Bricusse Estate. The Ghost of Christmas Past is Karmine Alers. The Ghost of Christmas Present is Geoffrey F. Belliston. The Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come is John Michael Peterson.

Music is always in the air, from strolling carolers brightening their holiday alfresco to the enthusiastic guests at Fezziwig's Christmas party. A pit orchestra of two keyboards, violin, cello, bass and percussion provides full symphonic accompaniment.

The program notes also list 19 musical numbers, ranging from Scrooge's insular declaration that “I Hate People,” to his fully anticipated, “I'll Begin Again” of yuletide triumph..

“Scrooge!” runs through Nov. 30, with performances at various times Wednesdays through Sundays (no performance Thanksgiving Day) in the downtown Temple of Music and Art, 330 S. Scott Ave. Run time is approximately 2 1/2 hours, including intermission.

Tickets are $33-$123. For additional details and reservations, 833-ATC-SEAT (282-7328) or online, atc.org

photo by Tim Fuller

Virtual mountains of hard cover books dominate The Rogue Theatre stage to tell what happened in Italo Calvino's "If on a winter's night a traveler" as adapted by John Capecci.

Trust me, reading a book, any book, will never be the same kind of experience once you've seen The Rogue Theatre's exceedingly brilliant stage adaptation of Italo Calvino's postmodern literary scene-stretching epic, “If on a winter's night a traveler.”

Filled with clever humor and unexpected insights about the private lives of books, this play becomes an imagination-expanding production of thoughtful fun and games for book lovers of every stripe.

Do you ever wonder why works of fiction always use that same old format of a beginning, middle and end? Do you really trust the publishers of a book translated from its original language? How do you know for sure the translation is even the same book?

Or what if the book's beginning was written by someone other than the official author. What if, just suppose, there is an underworld market for “beginnings,” so that you the author stuck for knowing how to begin his next novel could just buy one of these anonymously written “beginnings,” finish it up with a clever resolution and have the whole thing become a best seller? What then?

Calvino's real intention is to upend the literary world by celebrating, not the writer, but that seldom appreciated mass of restlessly searching intellectual souls – the readers!

Who, after all, has kept the works of Shakespeare alive for centuries? It isn't the writer. It is the many millions of readers who never tire of reading and re-reading the Bard.

Scholar and writer John Capecci has made it one of his life's objectives to spread Calvino's insightful thoughts even further by adapting this book to the stage.

Now the Rogue Theatre has picked up the swirling Calvino baton to present Capecci's adaptation with this full-voiced world premiere production directed by Cynthia Meier.

“If on a winter's night a traveler” is a game-changer, for sure. What might seem at first to be frothy fun with language and logic also contains deeper conclusions. So the literary intellectual could be laughing at one set of jokes while that restless blue collar reader of pulp fiction will be laughing at others.

My personal favorites include noting how the play's narrative portions all have the men wearing heavy overcoats and slouchy Fedora hats just like in the finest film noir.

Another is how music director Russell Ronnebaum uses haunted accordion playing by Linda Ackerman to give the whole atmosphere a provocative feeling of 1950s art house cinema.

There is a plot of sorts, actually more like an orchestration, with the play's title also being the first line of the play. The Reader (Ryan Parker Knox) reads a little further into chapter one, only to discover some pages are missing.

Returning to the bookstore, he gets a replacement copy, but then discovers this is not even the same book. Which sends the Reader off on a whole new set of bookish misadventures.

The cast is one of those Rogue specialties where 10 actors play 50 different roles. This time the singular characters are played by Christopher Johnson as the appropriately authoritarian Il Maestro, Bryn Booth as the provocative Ludmilla and that dismayed everyreader Knox. Seven more players create 46 other personalities to complete the tale.

“If on a winter's night a traveler” runs two hours five minutes, playing through Nov. 24, with 7:30 p.m. performances Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. matinees Saturdays and Sundays, at The Rogue Theatre in the Historic Y, 300 E. University Blvd.

Tickets are $47 general admission, with discounts available. For details and reservations, visit https://www.theroguetheatre.org or phone 520-551-2053.

Add another layer of appreciation for the traditional Mexican commemoration of the Day of the Dead in the Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre's colorful bi-lingual production “Alebrijes! or Ridiculous Beautiful Beasts.”

This extremely imaginative tale filled with bright colors and Latin rhythms knows no limits to its magic. At first, just to absorb so many unexpected stage effects can feel confusing – but stick with it.

We are about to experience the dreams and far-fetched adventures in both space and time of Pedro Linares (Ollin Acosta) and his brother Manuel Linares (Sebastian Falcon). Expect to also see La Muerte (Anel Schmidt), Florinda “La Pata” (Alicia Damian), Felipe “El Gallo” Ramirez (Tyler Gastelum), Bartolome “The Gato” (Falcon) and Alejandra Brijeda (Ivana Jimenez).

Each of these “animals” wears an appropriate costume, but there are lots more special effects in store by the director, Marc David Pinate.

“Alebrijes!” is a co-production with Tucson Meet Yourself and Borderlands Theatre. The playwright is Georgina Escobar.

Alebrijes are described in the program notes as “magical creatures that have been transformed over decades into Mexican folk art sculptures.”

At the Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre these costumes are designed by Sarah Polzin. The equally fanciful stage set was conceived by Alex! Jimenez.

Most magical are the many puppets in DayGlo colors, each one lively enough to jump into your own dreams. Some of the puppets are operated by puppet masters dressed completely in black on stage.

Death is an important aspect of the atmosphere, too, but not in a threatening way. One role of the alebrijes is to be a guide to spiritual insights for each person evolving on life's journey.

“Alebrijes” continues through Nov. 3, with performances at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, at the Historic Y, 738 N. Fifth Ave. Tickets are $35 adults, with several discounts available. For details and reservations visit scoundrelandscamp.org or phone 520-448-3300.