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BY WALTER SKIBA

Times Correspondent | Friday, November 28, 2003 | Mike Reinhart shouldn't have any opening-night jitters when he takes the stage tonight in "Scrooge." It's his sixth appearance in the title role of the musical retelling of the Dickens' classic "A Christmas Carol."

The show opens tonight for a two-weekend run at Reinhart Auditorium in Merrillville High School. Presented by M&M Productions and Ross Music Theatre, the musical is based on the 1970 movie that starred Albert Finney in the role of the miserly London loner who hates Christmas. Leslie Bricusse, best known as the lyricist for "Jeckyll and Hyde," wrote the music.

Reinhart's first appearance as Scrooge was in 1982, when his father staged the musical as part of a Christmas concert. "When the actor playing Scrooge got sick, I took over the part," Reinhart says. His most recent performances were in 2002 and 1996.

"The show has much of the musical and visual flavor of 'Oliver,'" says Reinhart, who also directs the Merrillville production. "It covers all of the major episodes from the original classic."

The music includes lively group numbers, such as "December the 25th," and beautiful ballads, such as "You ...You," which Scrooge sings as he reflects on past mistakes after the departure of the Ghost of Christmas Past. "Scrooge is not depicted as a one-dimensional crab but as a more complex character who had been a good person at one time," Reinhart says, "and the good can be drawn out of him again."

Tiny Tim, the handicapped son of Bob Cratchit, one of Scrooge's underpaid employees, expresses optimism and cheer in "A Beautiful Day." Isabel, young Scrooge's fiance, sings that happiness has more to do with one's state of mind and relationships with people than with money and material goods.

A fun number, "The Minister's Cat" is a take-off on an old English party game, according to Reinhart. "Participants go through the entire alphabet to find adjectives that describe the cat."

A lavish production, the play requires 18 set changes along with many lighting and special effects, including film projections to help bring to life the premonitions described by the ghost of Jacob Marley, Scrooge's former business partner who visits him on Christmas Eve. Compared with last year's staging, some of the set pieces have been moved from left to right or the other way around, and Scrooge now has a two-story house, Reinhart says.

More than 100 strong, the production ensemble features singers, dancers and actors from throughout Northwest Indiana. In addition to Reinhart, the cast includes: Jeff Ban (Merrillville) -- Bob Cratchit; Melinda Reinhart (Merrillville) -- Mrs. Cratchit; Ella Sweeney (Merrillville) -- Kathy Cratchit; Jason Ban (Merrillville) -- Tiny Tim; Max Sangerman (Miller) -- Peter Cratchit; Krysta Rodd (Crown Point) -- Cratchit Daughter; Bill Hebert (Merrillville) -- Tom Jenkins; Pegg Sangerman (Miller) -- Christmas Past; the Rev. Andy Corona (Merrillville) -- Christmas Present; Caitlin Johnson (Crown Point) -- Christmas Future; Bob Jessen (Crown Point) -- Marley; Rob Earnshaw (Merrillville) -- Scrooge's Nephew; Steve Elser (Merrillville) -- Mr. Fezziwig; Debbie Elser (Merrillville) -- Mrs. Fezziwig; Mike Finchum (Merrillville) -- Young Scrooge; Victoria Gaboian (Merrillville) -- Isabel Fezziwig.

BY PHILIP POTEMPA

| Sunday, November

After 50 performances and appearing in six separate productions throughout the decades as miserly Ebenezer Scrooge in the holiday stage musical "Scrooge," Michael Reinhart jokes that he's finally "grown into the role."

"Not only am I finally about the right age to really get into this character, my other cast members now say I also have the right temperament for it too," said Reinhart, who reprises the role in this season's performances of "Scrooge" by M & M Productions and Ross Music Theatre opening this weekend and continuing through next weekend at the 1,000-seat Reinhart Auditorium in Merrillville.

"Most of all, this is a show that both the returning cast and audiences love year after year as a holiday tradition."

Reinhart said with every year the show is produced, it continues to grow, from the elegant period costumes to the ever-expanding set that recreates London on Christmas Eve 1843.

"My own father Jerauld always does own sets for this show each year," Reinhart said.

"And even though we store a lot of the pieces, my father keeps building on more and more set design every time we stage this production."

Reinhart said his mother Margilee and his wife Melinda are the costume design experts that help bring all of Charles Dickens' characters to life.

"Over the years, I've worked on my Scrooge character to give him more dimension," Reinhart said.

"If you really concentrate on the story and think about the early childhood and life this character Ebenezer had, you can understand why he is the way he is in this story. I try to emphasize a softer side to Ebenezer Scrooge."

Reinhart said Dickens' own life is just as interesting as "A Christmas Carol," the story that inspires the musical stage version "Scrooge."

Consider the following:

Dickens personal life was as unhappy as his professional life was promising. He was favorite fodder for English newspapers who chronicled his comings and goings and printed rumors of his affair with a young actress, Ellen Ternan (1839-1914). He separated from his wife in 1858; their marriage produced 10 children.

* "A Christmas Carol" was Dickens' way of recreating his childhood in words. The Cratchit Family really lived in a small terraced house that evoked the house on Bayham Street where the Dickens Family had lived after its arrival in London. Charles' younger brother "Tiny Fred," was in fact crippled and the inspiration for "Tiny Tim."

* Sold for five shillings and bound in red cloth with a gilt design on the cover and gilt edges, "A Christmas Carol" contained four, full-color etchings by artist John Leech and four black and white woodcuts.

* During his final touring years, Dickens would perform a one-man reading and recreation of "A Christmas Carol," impersonating all 23 featured characters and using his hands to illustrate the story.

Reinhart and his cast have it much easier than the days of Dickens.

He said the cast and crew of more than 100 have been rehearsing since September.

Like Reinhart, many of the principal cast members have reprised their roles in "Scrooge" year after year.

"Father Andrew Corona who plays Father Christmas says he's going to start a 25-performance club," Reinhart said.

"And we have plenty of cast members whose children have grown up in this show playing the child parts and then graduating on to adult roles."

Reinhart said another reason this production remains so popular is because of the music.

Reinhart credits, Leslie Bricusse, who created show's famous musical score for stage, with giving new generations songs that stay with audiences long after they leave the theater.

The wide selection of holiday favorites include "I Like Life," and "Happiness, " along with other familiar songs such as "December the Twenty-Fifth," "Father Christmas" and "Thank You Very Much."

"We've all been a part of this show for so many years, it's family experience for both the cast and audience," Reinhart said.

"The holiday message of this musical remains just as strong year after year."

'SCROOGE' sets Dickens' tale to tunes

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BY WALTER SKIBA

| Friday, November 29, 2002 |

Times Correspondent

"SCROOGE," the musical retelling of Dickens' classic "A Christmas Carol," will be performed tonight and Saturday and Dec. 6 through 8 at Reinhart Auditorium in Merrillville High School. Presented by M&M Productions and Ross Music Theatre, the musical is based on the 1970 movie that starred Albert Finney in the role of the miserly London loner who hates Christmas. Leslie Bricusse, best known as the lyricist for "Jeckyll and Hyde," wrote the music.

"The show has much of the musical and visual flavor of 'Oliver,' " says Mike Reinhart, who directs and plays Scrooge in the Merrillville production. "Running approximately an hour and 45 minutes, 'SCROOGE' covers all of the major episodes from the original classic and moves well with the help of the music."

The music includes lively group numbers, such as "December the 25th," and beautiful ballads, such as "You...You," which Scrooge sings as he reflects on past mistakes after the departure of the Ghost of Christmas Past.

"Scrooge is not depicted as a one-dimensional crab but as a more complex character who had been a good person at one time," Reinhart says, "and the good can be drawn out of him again."

Tiny Tim, the crippled son of Bob Cratchit, one of Scrooge's underpaid employees, expresses optimism and cheer in "A Beautiful Day." In "Happiness," Isabel, young Scrooge's fiance, sings that happiness has more to do with one's state of mind and relationships with people than with money and material things.

A fun nmber, "The Minister's Cat" is a take-off on an old English party game, according to Reinhart. "Participants go through the entire alphabet to find adjectives that describe the cat."

A lavish production, the play requires 18 set changes along with many lighting and special effects. "We use slide projections to help bring to life the premonitions described by the ghost of Jacob Marley, Scrooge's former business partner who visits him on Christmas Eve," Reinhart says.

The musical accompaniment consists of CD and MIDI tracks performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestr

More than 100 strong, the production ensemble features singers, dancers and actors, aged 5 to 75, from throughout Northwest Indiana. The cast includes: Mike Reinhart (Merrillville) as Scrooge; Mike Sangerman (Miller) as Bob Cratchit; Melinda Reinhart (Merrillville) as Mrs. Cratchit; Samantha Sangerman (Miller) as Kathy Cratchit; Max Sangerman (Miller) as Tiny Tim; Mark Blane (Valparaiso) as Peter Cratchit; Krysta Rodd (Crown Point) as Cratchit Daughter; Bill Hebert (Merrillville) as Tom Jenkins; Cindy Swisher (Merrillville) as Christmas Past; Rev. Andy Corona (Merrillville) as Christmas Present; Jeff Ban (Merrillville) as Christmas Future; Tim Swisher (Merrillville) as Marley; Dan Chavez (Merrillville) as Scrooge's Nephew; Kathy Smederovac (Lowell) as Nephew's Wife; Ray Saunders (Schererville) as Gentleman #1; Adam Clough (Portage) as Gentleman #2; Pegg Sangerman (Miller) as Vendor Woman #1; Tina Shultz (Merrillville) as Vendor Woman #2; Cheryl Major Miller (Hobart) as Beggar Woman

with Child; Jason Ban (Merrillville) as Lonely Boy (Young Ebenezer); Ashlee Elser (Merrillville) as Fan (Scrooge's sister); Jeff Ban (Merrillville) as Mr. Fezziweg; Debbie Elser (Merrillville) as Mrs. Fezziweg; Mike Finchum (Merrillville) as Young Scrooge; Victoria Gaboian (Merrillville) as Isabel Fezziweg; Rob Earnshaw (Hammond) as Dawkins (Toy Shop Owner); Nick Murray (Crown Point) as Boy in the Street.

Reinhart's association with this play goes back to 1981, when his father staged it as part of a Christmas concert. "When the actor playing Scrooge got sick, I took over the part," Reinhart says. He directed subsequent productions in 1989 and 1996.