Note: Authored by David Menconi, this piece has been produced in partnership with Raleigh Arts. Menconi's latest book, "Oh, Didn't They Ramble: Rounder Records and the Transformation of American Roots Music," was published in the fall of 2023 by University of North Carolina Press. His podcast, Carolina Calling, explores the history of the Tar Heel State through music.

Last year, Ira David Wood III retired from his best-known role—Ebenezer Scrooge in Theatre In The Park’s annual production of A Christmas Carol—after a record-setting 50-year run. The show will continue in 2024, but with a new tradition going forward: The starring role has passed to Wood III’s son, Ira David Wood IV.

This year’s Raleigh edition of the Charles Dickens classic is scheduled for the weekend of Dec. 6-8, 2024, with four performances at the 2,300-seat Raleigh Memorial Auditorium within downtown Raleigh’s Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts.

Tickets are available here.

As for the new leading man, it’s no exaggeration to call this part the younger Wood’s birthright inheritance. His first appearance in A Christmas Carol came 40 years ago, as a newborn infant his mother carried onstage as an extra.

“You could say I joined the cast early,” he says.

^{Catherine Davis Photography}

Wood IV also stood in for his father in 2010, when Wood III was recovering from major heart surgery. III delivered the news to IV that he’d be playing Scrooge in characteristically theatrical fashion.

“He called me over to the house, and I knew he’d been in for testing,” Wood IV recalls. “I walked in, and he said, ‘Hello, Mr. Scrooge.’ ‘Are you serious?’ ‘As a heart attack.’”

After that, Wood IV continued to serve as his father’s Scrooge understudy, frequently playing the role in each year’s matinee performances while also serving as the show’s director. So when Wood III decided to finally hang up his Scrooge hat after a half-century, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion who the role would pass to.

“I was doing the math, figuring out how much time I’ve spent doing this over the years with rehearsals and the length of the show,” Wood IV says. “It came to eight and a half years. So me continuing on with it was a natural choice. I’ve played a lot of different roles in the show over the years, so I’m familiar with it inside out. After watching my dad do it for so long, it’s like slipping into a familiar suit. I’m just trying to embody the spirit he brought to it for the past 50 years.”

Theatre In The Park productions of A Christmas Carol have also been popular beyond Raleigh and as far away as Europe, drawing more than a million attendees over the years.

^{Catherine Davis Photography}

Among the many actors who have appeared in past productions is Wood III’s movie-star daughter Evan Rachel Wood. She came back to Raleigh last year to appear in Wood III’s final Scrooge performance, reprising her childhood role as Ghost of Christmas Past.

Even with its new star, the show is still billed as Ira David Wood III’s A Christmas Carol 2024. And this year’s model is a role reversal, with Wood III moving up to directing his son.

“After the curtain call at his final performance, he thanked the audience and then called me over,” Wood IV says. “And he put the Scrooge hat on me. That was his way of handing it off. Now he’s the director and working together is a blast, so fun. We have the same sensibilities and sense of humor. Collaborating on this has been such a pleasure.”

Four 2024 productions of A Christmas Carol will take place at the Martin Marietta Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Raleigh: Dec. 6 at 7pm; Dec. 7 at 2pm and 7pm; and Dec. 8 at 2pm.

Tickets are on sale at ticketmaster.com. Find more information at theatreinthepark.com.

More Holiday Performing Arts Events in Raleigh, N.C.

• Cirque Holiday Pops with the North Carolina Symphony, Nov. 27-30
• Pentatonix, Nov. 30
• Cary Players present A Sherlock Carol, Dec. 5-9
• Classical Christmas with the North Carolina Symphony, Dec. 6-7
• Raleigh Little Theatre presents Cinderella, Dec. 6-22
• Fuquay-Varina Chorale Holiday Concert, Dec. 6-7
• Elf the Musical, Jr., Dec. 6-8
• Cary Ballet Company presents The Nutcracker, Dec. 7 and Dec. 20-22
• Mariah Carey's Christmas Time, Dec. 9
• North Carolina Master Chorale presents Joy of the Season, Dec. 10
• Neuse River Big Band Swingin' Holiday, Dec. 12
• Theatre Raleigh In Concert: Holiday Cabaret, Dec. 12-15
• Carolina Ballet presents The Nutcracker, Dec. 12-24
• Ugly Sweater Holiday Pops with the North Carolina Symphony, Dec. 13
• Raleigh Ringers Holiday Concerts, Dec. 14-15
• Triangle Wind Ensemble: The Snowman and Other Holiday Favorites, Dec. 15
• Jim Brickman: Comfort & Joy, Dec. 17
• Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Dec. 18
• Christmas with C.S. Lewis, Dec. 18
• Gerald Parker Jazz Orchestra Holiday Concert, Dec. 21
• Jeanne Jolly & The Mistletoes, Dec. 21
• Christmas with The Embers ft. Craig Woolard, Dec. 23
• Pure Life Theatre presents The Motown Sound of Christmas, Dec. 27-28