It’s easy for Jews to get grumpy during Christmas season, what with all that red-and-green holiday cheer, bell ringing and ho-ho-ho-ing. And don’t get me started on that sickly cute Tiny Tim or the morbid ghosts. This year, kvetchy Jews have something new to lighten their holiday blues. A Hanukkah Carol, or Gelt Trip! the Musical takes all the cringy clichés from the perennial surplus of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” and makes light, literally, of that whole maudlin treacly affair.
Bethesda-based Round House Theatre’s world-premiere musical, running through Dec. 29, follows self-absorbed social media influencer Chava Kanipshin — ask your grandmother if you don’t get the inside joke — and her Scrooge-like rejection of Chanukah or anything that identifies her as Jewish. She puts the mean in Mean Girl with mocking posts that merit her online follows, as she sings with gusto in “Click *Block*.” But every callous Scrooge has a sob-worthy backstory and Chava (Samantha Sayah) — or her VaVa online persona — is no exception. The song “Hurt People” digs into hers.
And, of course, any Jewish musical needs a Jewish mother — and father; here mom and dad. Aviva Pressman and Steve Routman, respectively, are loving Long Island Jews with a yen for kitschy Chanukah décor. The Chanukah ghosts of holidays past and present delve into what turned Chava into a Chanukah hater, and the future techy ghost provides the impetus for the brunette protagonist with the great blowout and bejeweled glasses to mend her wayward ways.
Thus, the surprises in A Hanukkah Carol come not from the rehashed Dickensian plot but in the expected corny visual jokes, puns, and Easter eggs of Jewish Broadway hidden in plain sight throughout the fast-moving, 90-minute intermissionless production. Credit director Marlo Hunter and the eight-member multitalented cast for keeping up with quick scene and character changes and the snappy comebacks. A nameless orphan boy — played with a self-consciously obvious Cockney accent by Katrina Michaels — frames the action, adding that Victorian edge to a contemporary take on this classic. The shouts of “’appy ’anukah” early, and often, remind us how unlikely it would have been for a lovable Jewish character to find a role in a Dickens novel.
It’s hard to forget the notorious antisemitic portrayal of Fagin in Dickens’ Oliver Twist. In his role as front for a criminal enterprise of pickpocketing orphans he oversaw, Dickens painted Fagin as a miserly old man who snatches and uses Christian children for profit — reflecting the ugly ancient trope of the blood libel. After letters of protest were written to Dickens by Jewish acquaintances, he later revised this story, removing many of the references that simply called Fagin “the Jew.” Yet, Dickens also gave Scrooge similar Fagin-like Jewish characteristics: He’s a miserly moneylender with a hooked nose and a Hebrew name. His business partner also carries a Jewish name: Jacob.
That makes this reinvention of the long-standing Christmas classic all the more thoughtful. As well, Jews, particularly in America, have long played a role in the invention of American Christmas traditions — from many Jewish-owned businesses that manufactured Christmas decorations to the Jewish-founded department stores, particularly Quaker Rowland Macy’s partnership with the Straus brothers that solidified the shopping and gift-giving component with the creation of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade; and, of course, the numerous holiday songs from “White Christmas” to “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” written and composed by Jewish songwriters.
In fact, A Hanukkah Carol was born of the longing of a Jewish boy who wanted to see his own holiday, Chanukah, represented on the streets of New York, where he grew up. In 1997, five-year-old Harrison Fuchs wrote to the New York Post about the lack of inclusive holiday decorations in his neighborhood: “It wouldn’t be hard to make a five-pointed star into a six-pointed one,” he said, noting the surfeit of Santas, trees, wreaths, and bells. The Post published his missive. That young boy grew up to become Harrison Bryan, actor, director and playwright, who originated the concept of Hanukkah Carol and collaborated on the book with Rob Berliner, with music by Aaron Kenny and lyrics by Berliner.
The score ranges from the ultimate Chanukah carol — “Maoz Tzur” or “Rock of Ages” — which opens the show with an acapella group in Victorian dress, to the full-company number “It’s a Miracle” that channels the “Oliver” opening, while “A Light in the Dark” provides early 1990s Boyz II Men energy and choreography and the solo “Rekindled” allows Chava/VaVa to rediscover her true self and her Broadway belt.
And there wouldn’t be a comic Jewish remake without a nod or a few to the Ur Jewish musical Fiddler on the Roof. But here the roof is a fire escape; Fruma Sarah, a tech nightmare; and plenty of other “traditions” sifted through Harnick and Bock’s shtetl tale. Then there are the Jew-y insider jokes about circumcision, Costco and noshing, plus a terrific wink at the venerable Ford’s Theater’s Christmas Carol.
With more than enough Jewish wry, A Hanukkah Carol provides smirks and guffaws and is a bit heartwarming for even the kvetchiest of holiday haters. For this reviewer, simply walking into a public space post-Thanksgiving and not being inundated by Christmas trees, décor and carols felt like a breath of fresh winter air minus the cinnamon and pine scent.
Instead, simple blue-and-white paper chains hang at the bar and the Klezmonauts are the featured lobby music, while any ugly holiday sweaters the night I attended were of the blue-and-white variety. For the Scrooges or Chava Kanipshins among us, it’s an appreciated antidote to the Christmastime Jewish blues, though it’s unlikely A Hanukkah Carol will attain the revered status of the Dickens original, but who cares? It’s bright and light enough to chase away a bit of darkness.
A Hanukkah Carol, or Gelt Trip! The Musical to Dec. 29 at Round House Theatre, 4545 East-West Highway, Bethesda. Tickets $50 to $108. Visit roundhousetheatre.org/on-stage/explore/a-hanukkah-carol or call 240-644-1100.
Lisa Traiger is Washington Jewish Week’s arts correspondent.
