Orange County Register

The behind-the-scenes drama surrounding the Kodak Theatre staging of “A Christmas Carol” is turning into one of those life-imitating-art situations that seems kind of funny — unless you’re one of the people involved.

Producer-director Kevin Von Feldt, who has a long and checkered history as a theatrical producer (including jail time), still has not paid many of the scene painters and carpenters who worked on his show before its Dec. 22 opening, according to one disgruntled worker.

Von Feldt’s “Christmas Carol,” one of several versions of the story he’s produced over the years, gained a healthy amount of pre-opening publicity because of the talent involved: Christopher Lloyd as Scrooge, John Goodman as the Ghost of Christmas Present, and Jane Seymour, Jane Leeves and Gene Wilder in supporting roles. (Seymour and Wilder pulled out of the production before it opened.)

The show came together in a hurry. According to a set painter who contacted me (he prefers not to reveal his name), “We had to work fast, and we were finished by around Dec. 20. We were told initially by the producers that checks would be cut by December 26th.”

You’d think that a guy producing a play about a miser would want to appear as un-Scrooge-like as possible in his own business affairs. But the “Christmas Carol” set workers weren’t paid on the 26th – nor have they seen any dough yet.

“I’m owed about $800,” the set painter told me. “From my standpoint, that’s a lot of money — equal to about one-third of my usual monthy income.” He’s a non-unionized freelancer and has no legal recourse other than lawyering up. He estimated at least seven other set painters are in the same boat.

There’s been some rumbling about the problems associated with Von Feldt’s production. And there were reportedly a lot of empty seats at the Kodak after bad word-of-mouth began to circulate about early, glitch-plagued performances and negative reviews came out.

 Earlier this afternoon, the set painter told me that Von Feldt had contacted him via e-mail and promised that checks were being issued today. Von Feldt lives in a small town in Wisconsin.

It’s the middle of winter, and I think the postal service still uses sled dogs in Wisconsin, don’t they? Let’s give Von Feldt a few days to make good on his “check’s in the mail” claim.

Surprisingly, the set painter had some good things to say about Von Feldt’s “A Christmas Carol.”

“I had the pleasure of seeing the show and it was great. Lloyd was amazing; so was Goodman. Apparently, the first night was a disaster. I was there after Christmas, and it looked very professional.”

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