Can Ebenezer Scrooge be a likeable guy?

Or a sympathetic one?

Or even funny?

Well, yes, say two actors who both interpret the season's most famous curmudgeon in local adaptations of Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol." Jon Rider plays the man at Theater of the Seventh Sister and Josh Rice does his take on Scrooge at Mount Hope Estate and Winery.

Both are having a marvelous time. It's fun, says Rice, "being mean. I don't like to be that way in real life!"

But let's back up a little.

Dickens penned "A Christmas Carol" in 1843 and actors have been stomping and snarling their way as Scrooge -- a man with major issues when it comes to Christmas -- ever since. It's easy to typecast the character as your basic villain, a one-dimensional mean old miser.

Not so fast, say Rider and Rice. In some ways, there's a little Scrooge in all of us.

"People get comfortable in their unhappiness," says Rider, who takes to the boards of the Stahr Center beginning Thursday. His challenge in playing Scrooge, Rider says, is "to get people to think about the treadmills" they find themselves on.

And Scrooge is very much a man on a treadmill. "He cocoons himself in business," says Rider.

That's something that hasn't much changed since Dickens' time. In fact, the author's entire motive was to get people to look up, to look beyond themselves. Victorian London was a busy place, with a focus on making money. The same can be says for America in 2010.

"Some people's gift is money," says Rider. The question, he asked, is " 'What do I do with that money?'"

While Rider sees Scrooge as a kind of metaphor, Rice is out to enjoy himself.

"I love Scrooge! I absolutely love him!" enthuses the actor, who is currently lurking around the Mount Hope mansion in "A Dickens of a Christmas." The show, which encompasses three Dickens stories, including "A Christmas Carol," plays through Dec. 23.

What's to love about Ebenezer Scrooge?

"He comes full circle. He starts so bitter, and so angry at the world," Rice says. "You can't help but feel bad for him."

Scrooge, of course, comes around, embracing Christmas with the help of some ghostly visitors. "There are a lot of touching moments in what is (basically) a horror story," says Rice.

But is there room for humor? Yes, says the actor.

A Rochester, N.Y. native, Rice honed his acting skills performing with the Arkansas Arts Center Children's Theatre in Little Rock. That meant room for improvisation.

"A lot of people tend to play down to children, which is the wrong thing to do," Rice notes. "You have to do a lot of physical work to keep them attentive."

Indeed, his Scrooge gets quite physical.

"There's some tumbling," he says. "We do anything we can do to make (Scrooge) more cartoonish."

Plus, Mount Hope's production involves audience interaction.

"You are there, with these patrons," Rice says. "It keeps you very sharp."

Rider had similar thoughts when it comes to making Scrooge human.

"I'm an actor because I love acting!" he says. "I love the challenge of grabbing a brand new audience every night."

And, of course there's the message. Scrooge literally wakes up a changed man, spreading the Christmas spirit and helping the downtrodden. That's an ending worthy of any era, both actors note.

"What it means is hope," Rider says. "'A Christmas Carol,'" Rice says, "is so very timeless."

"A Christmas Carol"

Opens Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

Cont. Wed. and Thurs. 7:30 p.m.

Fri. 8 p.m.; Sat. 1 and 8 p.m.

Sun. 2:30 p.m. Through Dec. 19

No performances Dec. 24 or 25

Also: Dec. 26, 2:30 p.m. and

Dec. 27-30 at 7:30 p.m.

Admission is pay what you will

Theater of the Seventh Sister

Stahr Performing Arts Center

438 N. Queen St. 396-7764
www.seventhsister.com

"A Dickens of a Christmas."

Continues through Dec. 23

Fri. 7:30 p.m.

Sat. and Sun. 1, 4 and 7:30 p.m.

Some midweek performances

$21.95 weekends, $18.95 midweek

$9.95 for children 5-11

Mount Hope Estate

Route 72 north of Manheim

665-7021, ext. 146
www.parenfaire.com.