Local Limelight: "A Christmas Carol's" Ira David Wood III
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Photo illustration: Axios Visuals. Photo courtesy of Theatre in the Park
Ira David Wood III was 27 when he started playing Scrooge in Theatre in the Park's "A Christmas Carol," a musical and comedic take on the classic Dickens' novella that has become a fixture in the Triangle.
We sat down with Wood, now 75, for our Local Limelight series to chat about the show's 49th season.
Catch "A Christmas Carol" at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts in Raleigh from Dec. 9-11 and at the Durham Performing Arts Center from Dec. 14-18.
🎄 How he keeps going every year: We change it every year to try to keep it fresh and updated. A bunch of new folks joining the show every year helps a lot. It changes the dynamic.
Next year will be our 50th year doing "A Christmas Carol" and I am looking forward to that. I will be hanging up the role and turning it over to my son Ira IV. Frankie Muniz ("Malcolm in the Middle"), Michael C. Hall ("Dexter") and my daughter Evan Rachel Wood ("Westworld;" all three actors got their start with Theatre in the Park) have said they will be coming back for it.
🥩 Favorite place to eat in the Triangle: The Angus Barn. Van (Eure, the owner) and I go a long way back. I used to do a one-man show of Truman Capote's "A Christmas Memory" as a midnight show for the staff.
💻 First read in the morning: My Facebook. I have a Christmas Carol page and I have 14,000 followers, where I try to make people laugh.
📽️ How he ended up in the Triangle: After graduating from the UNC School of the Arts in 1970, Andy Griffith invited me out West to appear in his new show "Headmaster." I used to babysit Andy's kids every summer, when I was the principal player in "The Lost Colony."
Before I left though, I got a call from the Department of Public Instruction about a role in changing the way theater was taught in schools. I used to suffer so much abuse for practicing theater in high school rather than play football, and I thought I should do this role while I am young, so I could talk with the students rather than at them. I called California and told them, I need to take a year to do this job. That year turned into more than 50 in Raleigh.
🌙 What the Triangle is missing: I'd like to have eateries that are open up late. Raleigh needs a Sardi's (a restaurant in New York's Theatre District), a restaurant where everyone knows to go after a performance or when we have a Broadway show that comes in. They would do an amazing business because it would be the only spot in town.
📚 Last great book he read: "Bittersweet" by Susan Cain. It's about how sorrow and longing make us whole.
🥃 How he unwinds after a show: I come back home. I pour a single malt scotch (Glenfiddich) and sit in front of the fireplace with my wife and we talk. When we perform at DPAC in Durham, that's a wonderful time to just put on Christmas music and ride back at night.
🖊️ What are you looking forward to: The rest of my life. I think about mortality a lot when you get to be this age. I am seeing so many musicians and performers passing away and they are younger than I am. I have started writing. I got a book published a few years ago about the Russian revolution. I just finished a love story set on the Outer Banks at the turn of the century. And I have a couple more ideas that I'd like to work on.
🏖️ Favorite vacation spot: Captiva and Sanibel islands in Florida.