"[I]t was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge."

Scrooge died this week. Ok, he didn’t, but the man who brought Scrooge and A Christmas Carol to life for me had his final curtain call on Monday night. Here is his obituary. He was actually BYU Law Professor Richard Wilkins. I sort of got to know him while I was at BYU Law School, and in fact I was in his class for three days before I decided to drop it (another story for another time), but for many years I only knew him as Ebenezer Scrooge at the Hale Center Theater in Salt Lake City (later in West Valley City). A Christmas Carol has long been one of my most favorite stories in large part because of Prof. Wilkins’s perfect portrayal of Scrooge. (I also grew to love it from many home viewings of the George C. Scott production.)

HCT put on its first Salt Lake City production of A Christmas Carol in 1985 when I was almost 9. It was either that year or shortly thereafter when Prof. Wilkins first invited the Law School faculty and families to see the dress rehearsal. After that first year, I’m not sure exactly how many more years we continued this tradition of seeing the play at a dress rehearsal or in final form, but it was more than a few – it felt like every year! – and I remember being so happy and excited to see it each time. I had known and already liked the story from the George C. Scott movie, but it truly came to life for me in HCT’s small old theater-in-the-round at 28th S./Main St., SLC. Something about that intimacy really drew you into the story. One year I remember we were sitting really close to Scrooge’s bed, and Prof. Wilkins, I mean Scrooge, was right there, feet away from us as if he were talking right to us. It was amazing. I also remember feeling deep disappointment whenever a year would pass without the opportunity to see this play with Prof. Wilkins as Scrooge. The last time we went to the play with the Law faculty was in 1998 when HCT moved to its new West Valley location. Although we didn’t go as a Law School family again after that, I have attended the HCT production on my own several more times, loving it even more each time. I know that the others who play Scrooge are amazing, but there was something that Prof. Wilkins brought to the story and to that role that no one else could do.

Though I didn’t know him well, I am very sad at his passing and will forever be grateful to him for helping me fall in love with one of the greatest stories ever written. RIP