Stage Capsule Reviews

A Christmas Carol This is redemption you could set your watch by. The Kansas City Rep holds steady with its 25th production of Dickens' invention-of-Christmas classic, which adds up to 75 ghosts and God knows how many pounds of white, graveyardy powder. It's always sumptuously mounted, well-acted and as easy to take as spiked nog. Helping immensely is Gary Neal Johnson, always a wonderfully niggling and petty Scrooge, and one whose transformation comes as much from within as from Dickens' ectoplasmic deus ex machina. Through Dec. 26 at the Kansas City Repertory Theatre, 4949 Cherry, 816-235-2700.

A Christmas Conundrum Yet another murder mystery staged by the Mystery Train, ensuring the following: a death aboard a train, which audience members will be charged with solving; a whimsical script with plenty of puns, many of which audience members will be charged with delivering; a bevy of characters with silly names and offbeat histories, several of whom audience members will be charged with becoming; and dinner from the Union Station Café, which audience members will simply be charged with. This one's set in 1952, at Christmastime, so expect a background of Kansas City history taking full advantage of the Union Station surroundings. Reservations are required. Through Jan. 7 at Union Station Café, 2200 Main, 816-813-9654.

Christmas in Song This rousing, savior-centric cabaret revue — hatched by director, singer and dryly funny master of ceremonies J. Kent Barnhart — is split between a holy first half and a wholly secular second. Both have plenty of highlights and come blessed with sterling arrangements, Barnhart's tasteful accompaniment, a (mostly) fresh crop of songs and Quality Hill Playhouse's reliably spectacular voices: those of elegant Melinda MacDonald, fine tenor Matt Leisy and soprano Stacey Uthe, who sets the air tingling about her. The pre-pop songs stir deeper than the lighter fare, and occasionally the show slumps into pop-classical doldrums. But mostly it's a treat, caroling to thrill to instead of endure. Through Dec. 24 at Quality hill Playhouse, 303 W. 10th St, 816-421-1700. (Reviewed in our Nov. 17 issue.)

Disney's Beauty and the Beast This version of the old don't-judge-monsters-because-they-might-be-princes story dates back to just 1991, when Disney technicians planed off the rough edges and set the second act all a-clatter with singing flatware. The last Disney musical to achieve any amount of grace whatsoever, this one features the rousing Gaston song, at least four other memorable numbers and a plot point or two cribbed from Measure for Measure. Added plus: One of the heroine's parents actually survives! Through Dec. 11 at the Lawrence Community Theatre, 1501 New Hampshire, 785-843-7469.