'Completion of a dream:' Raleigh's own Scrooge takes final bow this week
After 50 years of Christmas memories, local legend Ira David Wood III has taken his final bow as Scrooge on the stage of Raleigh Memorial Auditorium.
He wasn't alone: Generations of A Christmas Carol cast members, families and supporters joined the bittersweet moment as Scrooge removed his Santa coat and hat and draped it onto his son's shoulders.
Ira David Wood IV, who goes by Ira, will take over the role starting next holiday season.
Wood III, who goes by David, shared a message for the families – both on stage and in the audience – who made his shows a Triangle holiday tradition.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you for filling my life with so many moments and so many memories," he said. "I hope I've given everyone some bit of joy. I hope I've brightened the holidays for people."
Ghosts of Christmas Past: Sharing the stage with family
For the first time in nearly 30 years, Wood III shared the A Christmas Carol stage not only with his son, but also with his daughter, Emmy-award winning actress Evan Rachel Wood.
She returned to reprise a role she played in childhood, that of the Ghost of Christmas Past in front of many who knew her when.
"To sing the song with my dad again, you can't put a price on it," she said. "With all the alumni in the audience that remember when I played the same role as a kid."
Father and daughter filled the stage with beautifully haunting memories as she sang to him the lyrics she sang as a child: "Once upon that dream, I loved you then."
"To be on stage with your family – it's the end of a cycle," he said. "It's a completion of a dream that we had 50 years ago."
But it isn't just the Wood family who has had generations of family on stage for A Christmas Carol through the years.
The entire cast and crew is a small village, according to David Moore, who was also taking his final bow this year – as Bob Cratchit.
Many members of that village were in the crowd to say goodbye.
"I met my wife in the show," Moore said. "We were married on Thanksgiving Day five years later."
So, he likes to say, "Scrooge got a second chance – and so did I!"
His own family has played alongside him the show – a daughter, two sons, even grandchildren.
"A couple of years, we had three generations of us in the show," he said.
For many, A Christmas Carol is how they've spent the holiday season with their families for many years.
"You can't tell where one starts and the other stops," Moore said.
The end of a holiday family tradition brought plenty of tears.
"It's very easy for tears to come," Moore said. "Memories to just flood through – like watching a movie reel running at super speed. It's grief in one hand and extraordinary joy in the other."
Raleigh Christmas Future: A new legacy for Scrooge
When Wood III talks about A Christmas Carol, he emphasizes the importance of childhood wonder and connection with family.
He chokes up a little thinking about his own son Ira, who is stepping into the 'Scrooge' nightgown and cap, taking over the Christmas tradition that will continue bringing holiday joy to so many families.
"It's a wonderful feeling to know that Ira's standing in the wings ready to go on," said Wood. "He's grown up in this show. He first appeared in this show when he was only a few weeks old."
Ira David Wood IV grew up in the show, playing many roles. The father is excited to see what Raleigh Christmas future holds with the son at the helm.
"When he stepped in and played Scrooge for me in 2010 when I had open heart surgery, I sat in the audience, and it was an out-of-body experience because he did so well, it was like watching myself on stage," Wood III said.
Each year, there's a particularly poignant moment in the production when Wood III spends a moment with the ghost of his own father.
"He died when I was 12. The last time I saw him, he tucked me into bed," said Wood III.
So during the scene where Bob Cratchit sings a lullaby to Tiny Tim while Scrooge watches from the wings, Wood III sits and listens to all the words he'd love to hear his own father say to him at Christmas.
"In a very real way, I get to visit with my Dad," he said.
That bittersweet moment is especially meaningful when his own son is standing there, too.
"I look in the wings and see my son standing there," he said. "It's pretty special. We all join on a wavelength."
Wood III plans to continue as the show's director.
As proud as David Wood is of his son, Ira is just as proud of his dad.
"We're so proud of dad for 50 years, and going out on top. It's an honor and a privilege just to watch everything unfold," Wood IV said. "To watch the love from Raleigh and from the audience."
The originator of the role, Wood III, believes future generations have a lot to be excited for next Christmas and for many holidays after, as Ira David Wood IV grows more and more into his role as Scrooge.
"When I started out, I was all over the place," said Wood III. "As the years go by, I became more familiar with Scrooge, and he became an old friend, and I was delighted to meet him every year."
Now, he says, his son will have the privilege of watching his own Scrooge grow and mature, just as he grows and matures himself.
"I think people will be able to follow his journey and see the transition Ira brings to the role," he said. "I'm amazed at his growth every year in the show, to watch the dimensions becoming deeper as he gains a spiritual grasp of the role that grows greater each year."
Just as Wood III took a 50-year journey to get here, and brought much of Raleigh along for the ride, the next generation will get to see what Wood IV creates for Raleigh's Christmas future.
"It's an incredible feeling to know you left something behind that's going to continue to make people happy," said Wood III. "I'm happy with that legacy."
