It’s not every day that a small community theater can take a production designed for the likes of Madison Square Garden and fit it into a 69-seat theater, but that’s precisely what the Chestnut Street Playhouse has managed to pull off for the second time with its seasonal “A Christmas Carol.”

Originally debuting at the theater in 2015, the show has been brought back by popular demand, says director and choreographer Lisa Foss, who has also been president of the playhouse board since 2015.

“It was a unanimous decision to bring it back,” Foss says by phone last week. “It was so well received (in 2015) … that we decided that it would be an every-other-year thing.”

Though the original “Christmas Carol” was written in 1853 by Charles Dickens and has since been reimagined into dozens of plays and films, Broadway composers and lyricists Alan Menken (Disney's “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Little Mermaid”) and Lynn Ahrens (“Ragtime” and “Seussical”) readapted the story in 1994 for the big stage, turning the production into a sweeping musical featuring a 20-song score and a 100-plus-person cast.

“The music is absolutely charming. And even though people won’t know all of it, there is a familiarity about it. It is very tuneful and beautiful. And it is absolutely a family-friendly piece,” Foss says of her reasoning for choosing this Menken/Ahrens version.

Even those unfamiliar with “A Christmas Carol” will surely be familiar with its main character of Ebenezer Scrooge, the “prosperous curmudgeon who believes that personal wealth is far more valuable than the happiness and comfort of others,” according to the playhouse description.

“This is a story of joy in the world and that everyone has pain. The way to find happiness and fulfillment is through connections with those around you. This is a story anyone can connect to. Especially this version,” Foss says. It will open Nov. 30 and run through Dec. 17.

But for Foss, who lives in Lisbon and spends much of her day commuting to and from Hartford, where she works for the Capitol Region Education Council, directing and choreographing “A Christmas Carol” wouldn’t be an easy undertaking, even after having done it in 2015. The key to her return hinged on actor Derek Corriveau.

“I said I would only do it if (he) was willing to do the role (of Scrooge) again. If he couldn’t do it, we probably would have done a different show,” she says. Her vision, after all, “was to humanize Scrooge.” And Corriveau was the only actor she knew who could do that.

“When you hear (Scrooge’s) backstory, he was really hurt. In this version, we are trying to elicit empathy for this character,” she says. “And what’s special about Derrick is that he doesn’t play Scrooge as a caricature. He is not some cartoony old miser. In this version of the story, you really find out what the source of (Scrooge's) pain is, what his back story is and what leads him to redemption.”

Corriveau’s ability to perform the complexities of his character was also a necessity in this particular production, considering the theater’s stage dimensions and its three-quarter thrust design, which is a stage that extends into the audience.

“That presents a very unique challenge when staging a large cast in a show,” Foss says, referring to the 26-person cast, the largest production to have graced the Chestnut stage. “No matter where you sit, you’ll be seeing a different take on the musical. Our actors have to be mindful of it, and especially I, as director and choreographer, have to be mindful of that,” she says.

But rather than see this as a challenge, Foss considers the small theater and stage dimensions as an opportunity to make her show even more extraordinary.

In one instance, the original script called for Scrooge’s house to rotate onstage, while in other parts, it called for ghosts to fly in.

“Yeah, we don’t have a rotating house, a trap door, or a flying system,” she says, meaning her cast couldn’t rely on special effects but instead on their own abilities.

In another number, the script described ghosts onstage in a sleigh alongside dancing fruits and vegetables.

“Then the script said that this ridiculous dancing food would morph into tap-dancing showgirls in what’s supposed to be Victorian-era England, and I was like yeah, no,” Foss says, laughing. “That’s not going to work for us because, first, we don’t have a team of dancing candy. And second, it won’t work because I don’t have a team of professional tap dancers.”

Instead of struggling to adapt, Foss decided to use the eight child actors and two teen-agers and turn the dance into a Mother-Goose pantomime.

“I used all the kids in this part, and they each get to be featured performing a show for Scrooge. So I have Little Bo Peep and her sheep and the three blind mice, Jack, who jumps over the candlestick,” she says. “It’s about being inspired by what’s in the text and seeing what’s written and not just going with someone else’s idea.”

Of course, it takes a special eye and dedication on Foss’ part to ensure that every working layer of the show, from the dancing to the singing, down to each individual performance, is executed to perfection.

“It’s a broader picture that I have to be aware of. And I move around the theater and see it from different angles and make sure that (the show) never stays static. The stage picture is constantly changing, and I make sure that every actor helps to focus the audiences’ attention. We spent a lot of time on those details.

“But that’s what makes (this show) so special, because you feel like you are a part of the action,” Foss says. “When it all comes together, there is nothing more sensational. You are telling a story in real time and place. These days, everyone lives their lives in the palm of their hand through a cell phone. But here, for an hour and a half, everyone comes together and sees everything in the same time and space without other distractions. That’s why live performance is something so precious.”

 m.biekert@theday.com