ROB MURRAY: I’m speaking with Bridget Ryan from the Carter-Ryan Gallery and Carter-Ryan Productions. It’s fantastic to find out that live theatre is coming back. It’s been a long hiatus for you guys. It must be nice to be bringing something Christmas-ey back once again.

BRIDGET RYAN: We are absolutely thrilled, delighted, and slightly emotional. A Christmas Carol returns to the Fairmont Banff Springs, opening on December 9th. It has been a huge absence in cultural offerings, and just having that sense of what is so great about live performances on every level. It’s been a really emotional, but super exciting time.

RM: I saw this production the last time you staged it a couple of years ago. Is it the same actor playing Scrooge?

BR: It is – Paul Cowling returns as Scrooge. I think with what everybody has gone through lately, we were talking about the message of Christmas Carol and the meaning of Christmas Carol, and while he was talking about what Christmas Carol is really about he got very emotional, and I got very emotional because it really feels like we’ve all been through something quite profound. I think one of the beautiful things about theatre is it always bring people together with this kind of messaging. It will prove to be a pretty powerful experience.

RM: I really enjoyed it when I saw the production a couple of years ago, and it’s an interesting space. I didn’t even really know there was a theatre at the Banff Springs Hotel.

BR: It is a secret nugget. I think it’s fantastic. It’s a sort of old school, very grand, you know, the ginormous chandelier above the audience. It feels special, it feels like a special occasion, and I love that space. It seats 250, but of course we have limited capacity for this production just to keep everybody safe. I think that once you come into that space, it’s like entering a whole other theatrical world.

RM: I’ve seen A Christmas Carol in various forms many times over the years. We’ve all seen it. We’ve all read the book. I mean, why is it a story that people keep coming back to? Why is it something that people keep wanting to see over and over again?

BR: I think it’s redemption. I think it’s the story that we can actually change. I think it’s the story that we have the capacity to affect each other. More than ever that’s a powerful message that we need to hear. It’s kind of like “It’s A Wonderful Life” with Jimmy Stewart. It’s that same sort of…I want to do better. I want to be better. Will people allow me to? Yes! I can have the life I choose to live and I can actually see that things can be better, that people matter, and goodness and kindness in the world is above all most important. I think that sense of renewal, redemption, forgiveness, and also the connection, is just a timeless thing that we are continually, as a society trying to live in pursuit of. It really is a beautiful message, and a timeless one at that.

RM: What does this production bring to the story that’s maybe unique and interesting?

BR: My dad was a director. What he loved to do is take a huge cast with a lot of different characters and use like four or five people, and then just charge them with the ability to be seven to eight characters each. That is what this production celebrates my wife. I just love watching one actor play a multitude of characters, and literally turns around and then turns back around and he’s somebody else. This production has five actors who are called to task to be every character, including the children, including the spirits. There are so many costume changes and character changes, and yet it’s not sent up. It’s really quite beautiful. It’s an actors’ show, with five actors portraying over 30 characters. It’s hilarious; there’s beautiful song in it as well. Morgan McKee is an amazing musical composer as well as the music director. He’s done a tremendous job. There’s choral singing in it because to have anything Christmas without that sense of choral singing just wouldn’t be that, you know, icing on the cake.

RM: A Christmas Carol opens December 9th and runs up to and including Christmas at the Fairmont Banff Springs Conference Centre Theatre.

Filed under: A Christmas Carol, Banff, Live Theatre