By SHARON EBERSON
It’s A Musical Christmas Carol for the hat trick, in Charles Shaughnessy’s 21-year journey with Pittsburgh CLO.
The UK-born 5th Baron Shaughnessy, who most TV audiences discovered via the soap Days of our Lives and primetime’s The Nanny, will play Scrooge in PCLO’s 32nd annual production of the Charles Dickens classic, adapted by David H. Bell.
Shaughnessy was introduced to live Pittsburgh audiences in 2003, as Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady, then returned to play Captain Hook in 2019’s Peter Pan.
Before the actor’s Pittsburgh gigs, adding “musical theater” to his resume had seemed unlikely.
“I’d done a lot of plays, but I had always been voted least likely to do a musical at school,” Shaughnessy said before his first Carol rehearsal. “I mean, no one thought I could sing. I didn’t think I could sing, and I really can’t sing. But Henry Higgins, thanks to Rex Harrison, is this great speaky-singing thing. So that was the first musical I’d ever done, in America or England. It was absolutely terrifying, but I was so glad I did it. I had such a great time, and it sort of opened the door to a whole other area of work for me.”
Shaughnessy went in a flash from Pittsburgh CLO straight to Broadway, in the musical Urinetown. He replaced the great John Cullum as Caldwell B. Cladwell, whose character description might strike a chord with Scrooge enthusiasts: The company owner is “a miserly moneygrubber who gleefully exploits the poor.”
Shaughnessy follows in the footsteps of award-winning artists who have played literature’s most well-known miser, including Patrick Page, Richard Thomas and Michael Cerveris.
PCLO’s latest Scrooge brings an added touch of authenticity to the Dickens classic, with a British accent that remains intact long after he settled in the U.S. His voice also earned him the 2002 Daytime Emmy as Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program.
His voiceover work as Dennis the goldfish, friend and advisor to title character Stanley in a Playhouse Disney show, also earned him another generation of fans.
When he is recognized, Shaughnessy can usually tell which characters have resonated with the approaching fan. In fact, he seems to have it down to a science.
“It depends on different demographics and locations, and also age. If a 20- to 30-year-old comes up, I see that spark of recognition. I go, ‘Vampire movie,’ [the Disney Channel film Mom’s Got a Date with a Vampire], and they go, ‘That’s right, yeah, you were the vampire.’ ”
The older the fan, it’s usually Days of Our Lives, where he was one half of the soap opera mega couple, Shane and Penny.
“But if you’re in Whole Foods, it’s The Nanny, or maybe Mad Men. There’s certain kinds of giveaways … and it’s kind of fun guessing. I’m usually right, too.”
Now he can add one of the most recognizable character names in the English language to his repertoire.
Ebenezer Scrooge, as most of us know, undergoes a personality makeover one Christmas Eve, when ghostly visitors point out the error of his ways.
It didn’t start out as a bucket list role, “but maybe it should be,” Shaughnessy said.
“There’s a challenge in making his change real, because it comes pretty quickly,” Shaughnessy said. “One has to find a reason for him to change that isn’t just out of selfish fear about dying early. So there’s that interesting thing that any actor would enjoy figuring out.”
Also known for Netflix’s The Magicians and the soap General Hospital, Shaughnessy referred to being in the age of being offered grandfather roles. Pittsburgh CLO’s call to the stage comes at a time in his career that he describes in terms of a Shakespearean actor graduating from Hamlet to King Lear, “so suddenly Scrooge becomes an option.”
Having been to Pittsburgh previously, and observing longtime Christmas Carols at other regional theaters, he is well aware of becoming part of a local tradition.
A Musical Christmas Carol, in its 32 year in 2024. (Image: kgtunney Photography)
It helps that he will be surrounded by veterans, most in multiple roles, including Daniel Krell as Marley and Tim Hartman as Fezziwig, plus Aubree Liscotti back as TIny Tim, Lisa Ann Goldsmith, Justin Fortunato and many more. Joining Shaughnessy in the Musical Christmas Carol newbie category is Theo Allyn, as Mrs. Dilber/Mrs. Fezziwig.
“As soon as I get engaged in the rehearsals, it’ll become very clear that this is very special to people and a very loved tradition. So I’m excited to become part of it,” Shaughnessy said.
Preparing on his own up until now, the actor has only begun to discover the joys and challenges of going the distance in a 180-degree character arc.
“And it’s an important piece,” Shaughnessy noted. “It’s not just a lot of carols and a grumpy guy becoming a nice guy. It’s actually got some important beats to it. Especially nowadays, with the kind of upset and rancor and anger and depression that’s going around, it gives a good message about joy and about love and generosity that I think is very important.”
TICKETS AND DETAILS
Pittsburgh CLO’s A Musical Christmas Carol runs December 13 – 22, 2024, at the Byham Theater, Downtown. There will be a sensory friendly production on Saturday, December 21 at 10 a.m. Tickets: Visit https://pittsburghclo.culturaldistrict.org/production/95546 or call 412-456-6666.
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