This is less a review of a play than the reporting of one more Cincinnati Christmas tradition being checked off of my list. I seem to have gotten away with calling Cincinnati’s production of Every Christmas Story Ever Told a tradition even though its first year was just 2006. Cincinnati’s Playhouse in the Park first staged A Christmas Carol a decade and a half earlier, in 1991, so I’m sure its status as a tradition will not be questioned by anyone. What might be questioned is just how much of a reset to this tradition has just occurred, and whether or not it matters.

I don’t believe I had ever previously seen a live performance of A Christmas Carol let alone one of the beloved Playhouse in the Park performances. Although the names are the same, neither the play I saw nor its setting are the same as they were in 1991. A new main theater was built for the Playhouse last year and the annual A Christmas Carol run was put on hold while one theater was torn down and another built in its place. Some changes in the production were required because of physical differences in the stages, and the Playhouse’s artistic director, Blake Robison, took advantage of the hiatus to produce a new script. So the same Charles Dickens story of the ultimate grumpy old man being scared into a complete about-face is being told this year but the telling is not quite the same.

I obviously can’t tell you how the new compares with the old. I can tell you that the production I attended on Wednesday was spectacular in a way that could start a new tradition though I hope it will let an existing one get a new grip and continue.

That word “spectacular” applies most readily to the scenery and costumes. The onstage world looks exactly like what I’d expect a cleaned-up Dickensian world to look like. A giant clock anchors the set and also anchors the audience in stepping through the events of a long Christmas Eve. Special effects, puppets, and moving stage elements add to the sense of spectacle. When telling a story that everyone knows, the “how” really does outweigh the “what”.

Except for my comments about the new theater, pretty much everything I’ve said could be replaced with “Looks good to me” and that’s really all I’m qualified to say. For a real review, check out David Lyman’s report in the Enquirer which includes some official photos. A Christmas Carol will be at Playhouse in the Park through December 30. Go help a new tradition get started or help nudge an old one into a new phase.