A Scrooge from Christmases past

Kristin Connelly as the Ghost of Christmas Past greets Michael Warner as Scrooge

While the Company Theatre doesn’t perform “A Christmas Carol” every year, the Norwell troupe’s version of the Dickens novel has almost achieved the status of a South Shore tradition. This year’s production opens the day after Thanksgiving, with Michael Warner in the role of Ebenezer Scrooge.

Warner, a Company Theatre veteran who lives in Quincy, has played Jacob Marley, Fred, and Scrooge in three pervious productions, and in an interview with the Globe, he talked about his approach to portraying the legendary miser.

Playing Scrooge was so much fun the last time I did it that I knew if I had the chance to try again, I’d do it.

It’s been 11 years since the last time I played the role, so it’s kind of hard to remember how I did it -- which is good. I’ve come so far as an actor and performer in that time. The fact that I’m older helps me portray someone who’s older. Even some simple things like the voice come a lot easier. I was able to try some new things, and the directors always try to give a new production some new twists. The movie just came out with Jim Carey, and we’re aware of that, and we want to give this play a little more animation than before and make it come alive.

To prepare for this part, I watched some of the older movies, and god knows there are so many versions of it, which is great because you can draw on so many things. Usually, the actors in the movies are much older and they can show how older people behave.

As a singer, I’m a natural high tenor, so I really have to go to the complete opposite to get the voice right. Everything about Scrooge is dark, and when he’s yelling at someone, for example, you really have to get that down-in-the-throat, scraggly, old timer type of voice.

One of the movie versions I liked in particular was actually more of a musical version, it was “Scrooge” with Albert Finney. I loved the way he would say certain things, especially after the transformation when he wakes up on Christmas morning. I’m a very visual person; if I see something I can really bring it to life a lot easier.

I like to believe there is some good in Scrooge. I just think that it’s so buried within him that he never wanted to think about it or worry about it. But deep down, there’s a kind of regret that he let this beautiful girl go when he was young, and he has these emotions when his sister died, but they’re buried.

So when he goes back and starts seeing all these scenes from the past, all these emotions start to come to the surface, and that’s what helps with the transformation. If there’s really nothing good in him, I don’t think the transformation would be as believable.

“A Christmas Carol” runs from Nov. 27 to Dec. 30 at The Company Theatre, 30 Accord Park Drive, Norwell. Tickets are $29 to $31 and can be ordered online.