I just love these little carolers here at DeWayne's.

Of course, a classic tale of the holidays is Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," performed by theater companies all over the world at this time of year.

And you know, 2023 marks an ending and a beginning where for 50 years, acclaimed actor, Ira David Wood, has been delighting audiences with his portrayal of Ebeneezer Scrooge.

- We are at Theater in the Park, getting ready to celebrate the 50th anniversary of "A Christmas Carol."

This is my heaven.

It is a black box full of so many memories, so much emotion still in the air left here by so many talented people.

It's a very sacred spot for me.

It's home.

[bright holiday music] ♪ Merry Christmas ♪ ♪ Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas ♪ - When we opened "A Christmas Carol" 50 years ago, most theaters in the area were closed over the holidays.

So I said, "Let's open our doors and put on a show," and that's what we did.

And people have asked me, "Did you really think it would last this long?"

I don't think I knew it would go on for 50 years, but I knew it had a life to it.

- What David's been able to do is incorporate a lot of humor, music, and not lose the beautiful story that Charles Dickens wrote.

- We take the meaning of that story very seriously, but we also have fun with it.

We invite the audience to come in and laugh about everything we've gone through the whole year.

- David pulls in a lot of trivia, things that are happening in the news.

He gets you both ways.

He gets you laughing, and then the next thing you know, you're crying.

- To me, the gift of laughter is you take the power away from something if you can make it funny or you can laugh at it or laugh at yourself.

And so I think that's part of the enduring nature of the show and why audiences come back every year.

It's about laughter and tears and to me, it's like a healing.

[audience laughs] - Who is your father?

- Ira David Wood III.

- Now that certainly explains it now, doesn't it?

Now- - Watching my dad when I was young, me and my sister used to call him Daddy Humbug.

It was just a very normal thing.

We didn't see anything unusual about your dad putting on old man makeup.

And so, to get to the point where I'm putting on the wig and the makeup, it's my responsibility now to carry on this almost superhero quality, and the superpower is Christmas and making people laugh and making people feel.

[bright piano music] [actors talking] - Time is money, Fred.

You're not gonna sing are you?

♪ Don't you recall ♪ He gonna sing.

- Ira has an incredible capacity to channel his dad and to do a lot of the things that David has done.

And at the same time, if you look closely, you can watch Ira begin to move it and customize it for himself.

- He stepped into the role and did it brilliantly.

I see myself as a young man in him.

I see his potential for growth in the role just like I grew.

And I can't describe the feeling of knowing that you're leaving something behind, something that has the potential to make the world a better place.

[gentle music] ♪ It seems so simple ♪ ♪ And it seems so right ♪ - This is certainly a show, it's first and foremost a show, but it's a lot more than that.

It is a coming together of people who, over weeks and days and rehearsals, become a family, and it bleeds across the stage.

- These were my first friends when I moved here in '90.

This was my first home.

- This show is family.

It means the world to me.

I can't imagine Christmas without this show.

- "The Christmas Carol" family has blessed my life.

Their generosity of spirit has blessed this show with a special kind of magic that sometimes you don't even get to see on a Broadway stage.

And I think that has been the cosmic glue that's held the show together and had such an appeal to the general public who come back every year.

And I think you're gonna walk out of that theater feeling better than you did when you came in, and that's Christmas.

[bright music continues] - [Deborah] "A Christmas Carol" will be performed at the Durham Performing Arts Center from December 13th through December 17th.

For tickets and more information, visit theaterinthepark.com.