Sherlock Holmes stands in for Ebenezer Scrooge in Harlequin’s holiday mashup

Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” is as much a part of the winter holidays as, well, Christmas carols, and Harlequin Productions is greeting the season with a remix called “Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Christmas Carol,” opening Nov. 29.

In “Sherlock,” a 2010 mystery that sold out its first runs in both Seattle and Portland, it’s not Scrooge but Holmes who is haunted by ghostly visitors.

“It’s the greatest ghost story of all time and the greatest redemption story of all time, funneled as pastiche through the lens of the greatest detective of all time,” said Harlequin artistic director Aaron Lamb, who’s directing. “It’s something deeply familiar and excitingly fresh at the same time.”

The Scrooge/Sherlock mashup, by John Longenbaugh of Portland, stars Terry Edward Moore in the role he originated at Seattle’s Taproot Theatre Co. and also features Harlequin regulars Russ Holm, Xander Layden and Eleise Moore.

The ghosts are clearly a big part of the appeal for Lamb, a “Carol” devotee who plans to helm his own adaptation next year.

“Dickens really hit a vein when he came up with the idea of a ghost story of Christmas,” Lamb told The Olympian. “We’re hoping, both this year and next, to really lean into the supernatural to try to understand our own mortal existence. And that means a lot of smoke and fog, flashing lights and special effects. You know, your basic run-of-the-mill holiday cheer.”

The director has plenty of “Carol” experience. He performed in the first two productions of “Sherlock” in 2010 and 2012 at Taproot Theatre Co., playing first the young Holmes and then the ghost of Moriarty, which replaces Marley’s ghost as the first visitor.

He also spent one very cold December touring the Midwest as Scrooge’s nephew Fred in a production of the classic “Carol.”

“We traveled from Michigan to Wisconsin, then back to Michigan, then back to Wisconsin, night after night, traversing the Great Lakes, in lake-effect snowstorms and bitter cold,” he told The Olympian. “The greater distance between stops meant we had to sleep on the bus. It was a pretty grueling and trying tour. But I can’t remember a time during my decades-long professional acting career when I was in better spirits.

“The message of the play, while utterly familiar, was so profound and uplifting, and Fred’s inability to be anything but positive and earnestly happy about the holiday seeped into my bones,” he said. “I loved it.”

It’s that “Carol” magic that inspired “Sherlock,” Longenbaugh told The Olympian.

“Everyone goes around wanting to feel a particular something at Christmas, regardless of what your faith might be,” he said. “There’s a kind of umami of the holidays that we want to taste.

“What’s fun about a show like ‘Sherlock’ … is the opportunity to provide the audience with that particular pumpkin-spice nostalgia.”

‘Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Christmas Carol’

• What: Harlequin Productions welcomes the season with John Longenbaugh’s take on Charles Dickens’ classic story of redemption — and ghosts.
• When: Preview at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 27; performances at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 29 and 30 and Dec. 4-7, 12-14, 19-21 and 26-28; 2 p.m. Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, 22, 24, 28 and 29; and 7 p.m. Dec. 31
• Where: State Theater, 202 Fourth Ave. E., Olympia
• Tickets: $20 for the preview; $25-$50 for regular performances; pay what you can for the Dec. 4 show
• More information: 360-786-0151, harlequinproductions.org

More Scrooge, more Sherlock and more holiday mystery

• “Scrooge: The Musical”: Nov. 29-Dec. 15, The Evergreen Playhouse, 226 W. Center St., Centralia. $12-$15 with a pay-what-you can performance Dec. 5. 360-736-8628, theevergreenplayhouse.com
• “Holmes for the Holidays,” in which an actor known for playing Sherlock confronts an offstage mystery: Dec. 6-29, Tacoma Little Theatre, 210 N. I St., Tacoma. $20-$25 with a pay-what-you-can performance Dec. 19. 253-272-2281, tacomalittletheatre.com
• “The Christmas Case: A Lady Brass Mystery,” Longenbaugh’s new holiday mystery about a rival of Holmes: Nov. 29-Dec. 21, Chapel Theatre, 4107 SE Harrison St., Milwaukie, Oregon. $22-$30, with an $8 discount for those who’ve seen Harlequin’s “Sherlock.” 971-350-9675, battlegroundproductions.org