Pat Blaufuss writes:
When Westport Country Playhouse raises its curtain each December on “A Sherlock Carol,” homecoming fills the air.
The family-friendly holiday mash-up, blending Charles Dickens and Arthur Conan Doyle, was born in the uncertain days of the pandemic. The Playhouse performed an online reading.
The play has gone on to successful runs in New York, and sold-out houses in London. This season alone, “A Sherlock Carol” will be performed at nearly 30 theaters worldwide. Productions stretch from Boston, Virginia and Philadelphia to Dallas, Ottawa, the UK and Australia.
James Taylor Odom as Sherlock Holmes.
Yet Westport remains the show’s creative home.
Now in its third holiday season at the Playhouse, the production is once again guided by its writer and original director, Mark Shanahan, in his role as Westport’s artistic director.
He is joined by members of the original New York company. James Taylor Odom steps into the title role of Sherlock Holmes.
“It is so gratifying to do it again at Westport with this company of artists, many of whom have been with it from the start,” says Shanahan.
“A Sherlock Carol” imagines a grown-up Tiny Tim seeking help from the world’s greatest detective, unfolding as a Christmas Eve mystery set in the years after “A Christmas Carol.”
Shanahan describes a feeling of “inviting friends from different social circles to the same dinner party, and hoping like heck they’d get along.”
From left: Alexandra Kopko, Joe Delafield, James Taylor Odom, Byron St. Cyr, Anissa Felix, Dan Domingues. (Photos/Carol Rosegg)
When the play reached the stage in 2021, its themes of resurrection, renewal and second chances resonated deeply with audiences emerging from a period of uncertainty.
Off-Broadway, “A Sherlock Carol” quickly found its footing. It was a New York Times Critic’s Pick, and was nominated for Best New Play by the Off Broadway Alliance.
Its creative team and cast of Broadway veterans included several Tony nominees and winners. Many helped shape the Westport production. When London followed, British critics echoed their New York counterparts’ enthusiasm.
Despite its global reach, the show continues to feel rooted in Westport. Each holiday season many of the original cast and designers return to the Playhouse. The production feels like a reunion.
Writer/director Mark Shanahan chats with Westport Country Playhouse theater-goers, after opening night. (Photo/Dave Matlow)
Joe Delafield (Dr. Watson and Mrs. Dilber), says that while the company loved performing the play in New York, “it seems like a perfect fit at Westport. We all love coming back together and refining it each year.”
For James Taylor Odom as Sherlock, joining the Westport production this year brings the journey full circle.
“When I first saw ‘A Sherlock Carol’ in New York, I knew somehow I’d be part of it one day,” he says.
“Now here I am, working with Mark and this phenomenal cast at the Westport Country Playhouse. Getting to play one of my favorite characters on this stage with so many people I love is a dream.”
From an online pandemic reading to stages across North America, the UK and Australia, “A Sherlock Carol” has become a new holiday tradition.
And each December, as Holmes and Scrooge once again find themselves side by side, they return home — to Westport Country Playhouse, where it all began.
Six performances of “A Sherlock Carol” remain: tomorrow (Wednesday, December 17) through Sunday, December 21. Click here for times, tickets and more information.
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