THEATER REVIEW / ‘THE WONDER OF CHRISTMAS’ : Scrooge of the West : The Moorpark Melodrama hits a bull’s-eye with a Dickens classic retold as a horse opera.

There may be no piece of material more subject to parody--and more often parodied--than Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.”

So why should the Moorpark Melodrama back down?

Its current production, “The Wonder of Christmas,” is a handsome package that contains Andy Gregg’s adaptation of the Dickens classic, reset in the American West and retitled (har, har) “A Christmas Corral.”

It’s a fairly straightforward retelling of the plot, with many of the jokes assuming a familiarity with the original. In this telling, for instance, Bob Cratchit tries to convey his poverty to Scrooge by claiming that the Cratchits will have to eat the family dog for Christmas; Scrooge responds by handing him a cookbook crammed with recipes including “Poached Pooch”; and Tiny Tim is really obnoxious, shouting “God bless us, every one” at every opportunity.

Will Shupe is the crooked rancher Scrooge, taking full mustache-twirling opportunity with the role. Of the various spirits, Richard Zemaitis is particularly spooky as Marley’s Ghost. Mark Curry, Laura Young and Elaine Raleigh-Reed play the Cratchit family (Raleigh-Reed the most colorful, as Tiny Tim), and Erin Appling plays Scrooge’s slinky girlfriend.

Gregg’s script is book-ended by a separate story involving a modern family, with many of the “Christmas Corral” cast doubling in these roles. The modern segments were written by the Melodrama’s Linda Bredemann, who named the characters after her own family and who directed the entire show.

As expected from the Moorpark Melodrama, “The Wonder of Christmas” includes plenty of music, ranging from comedy numbers from the Spike Jones and Tom Lehrer songbooks to the more sentimental “Christmas in Killarney,” sung by Brenda Burton.

At the end of the show, children in the audience are given the opportunity to have their pictures snapped by director Bredemann with her trusty Polaroid; it’s a nice holiday touch.

* WHERE AND WHEN

“The Wonder of Christmas” continues through Dec. 20 at the Magnificent Moorpark Melodrama and Vaudeville Company, 45 E. High St. in Moorpark. Performances are Thursdays at 7 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 3 and 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 and 7 p.m. Tickets are $12 for all performances; or $9.50 for children and seniors on Thursdays, Saturday matinee and Sunday shows only. For information or reservations, call the Moorpark Melodrama box office at 529-1212 between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. daily.