Soooooo, after twenty-two years of living in the western Finger Lakes, we finally made it to Geva Theatre. We were there on the Sunday before Christmas, taking in the noon matinee of that perennial Geva favorite, “A Christmas Carol.”

To take the performance first; it was loads of fun. This is a Rochester tradition – our son reminds us that he went, in middle school – so the house was packed with old and young and everything in between. Nobody was hamming it up, but production and performance were both energetic, reaching out to every age in the house. Guy Paul, playing Ebenezer Scrooge, projected his character’s aggressive misanthropy without turning himself into a cartoon.

Geva puts on part-Equity productions. Guy Paul has a lengthy list of Broadway and West End appearances. Joel Blum (Fezziwig) has been twice nominated for Tony Awards, and once for a Drama Desk Award.

But it’s also a teaching theater. The children’s parts were played by regional children with stage experience and enthusiasm. From there the players climb the ladder of experience. We were stunned to learn from the program that Christmas Past was being played by a seventh grader – we’d never have guessed. Tess DeFlyer, who delightfully plays Belle and two other parts, has a BFA from Nazareth in musical theater.

So the cast were all more than satisfactory, and so was the adaptation. (If we understand it right, Geva has performed several different adaptations over the years.)

The sets were clever, with an overhead catwalk or balcony on which some of the action takes place, a symbolic window frame that’s raised and lowered, and a huge set for Scrooge and Marley’s, which cast and crew nevertheless struck offstage and on very quickly. Scrooge’s bedstead, when reversed, became Scrooge’s tombstone – a nice touch.

Special effects included two ghosts lowered from above, silhouettes through the scrims, fog, and projections. We had second row seats, at the extreme stage left, which was great except that we were right next to the loudspeaker, which was fine except for the bells and the thunderclaps. The house itself was very comfortable, and easy to get around in, and easy to get in and out of. Performances continue through Christmas Eve.

Growing up in Rhode Island we had ample access to high-level theater. Top road companies came through with Broadway Theater League, or in the round under “the tent” of Warwick Musical Theater. Rhode Island College and Brown University put on their own first-rate productions (Viola Davis is a RIC alumna), and hosted professional performances. We had a very strong regional company in the Trinity Square Repertory, and good community groups such as Cranston Players.

All of which reminds us what a regional treasure Geva is. In action since 1972, and in its downtown Rochester Woodbury Avenue home since 1985, Geva seats 160,000 audience members A YEAR, including 16,000 students.

That last figure should get us all dancing in the streets. We read years ago that the worst play is better than the best movie, and while that’s hyperbole there’s nothing in the world like a life performance. Sixteen thousand should be just a starting point.

And without taking anything away from Geva we also have our own offerings closer to home… Clemens Center, Keuka Lake Players, the colleges and universities, even the high schools. When the lights go down we join millions of other playgoers running all the way back to when young master Shakespeare took his place in some courtyard at Stratford. We can’t wait to see what happens next.