THE FORGOTTEN CAROLS, Dee Events Center, Ogden; additional performances today through Dec. 15 in Salt Lake City and St. George (www.deseretbook.com). Running time: 135 minutes (one intermission).
OGDEN — After 15 years, Michael McLean's "Forgotten Carols" has certainly earned its rightful place as a solid Christmas tradition.
More than simply a concert of some of McLean's most touching and inspiring music, his songs (and a smattering of more familiar, "unforgotten" carols) are neatly woven into a dramatic, heartwarming story of a stand-offish nurse's life-changing relationship with a gentleman who claims to be nearly 2,000 years old.
Whether McLean's portrayal of kindly and wise "Uncle John" could be John the Beloved or just a crazy old guy who enjoys bringing Christmas unexpectedly into people's lives is up to you. (I tend to lean toward the former.)
This time around, there've been a few cast changes, including McLean's wife and two sons taking major roles.
Kelly Shepardson, who played nurse Constance Louise Chamberlain in the 1995 production, is back this year. Her vocal talent shines in a couple of solos and she delivers a solid acting performance as well, as she slowly changes from stiff, grumpy Constance to friendly Connie Lou.
Christy Summerhays also does a fine job as Lillian, Constance's no-nonsense mother, and she also plays other roles.
Lynne McLean adds her own lovely voice to the proceedings as Sarah, John's wife, who developed a fondness for infants while running an orphanage some 2,000 years earlier, and appears in a contemporary maternity ward to help Connie Lou with a newborn baby.
Scott McLean, who adapted and directed the current version of the show, has a more comedic role as Mr. Halifax, Connie Lou's supervisor in the hospital. Jeff McLean delivers some high-powered solos in a variety of roles — the Innkeeper who turned Joseph and Mary away, a soldier during World War II, etc.
But it's Michael McLean who is the artistic glue behind this long-running production, with his original music that brings several seasonal vignettes into the story — a tired young shepherd who sleeps through the angelic good tidings, George Frederick Handel's inspiring musical gift to the world's celebration, and the mysterious Uncle John's knack for bringing others' own heartfelt carols out into the open.
McLean is not operatically trained but he's a gifted composer and an exceptional actor. He makes Uncle John an endearing and believable character with a story that still resonates after 15 years — give or take 2,000.
E-mail: ivan@desnews.com