Raleigh’s Favorite Scrooge

Ira David Wood III (born November 19, 1947) is an American actor, author, singer, theater director and playwright. He is the Executive Director of Theatre in the Park, a community theatre company in Raleigh, North Carolina. Wood is the father of actress Evan Rachel Wood. Wood is best known for conceiving, producing, and headlining (as "Scrooge") a popular musical comedy adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" that has been performed annually in Raleigh—since 1974, and more recently, in nearby Durham as well. Ira David Wood III shares how he first got into acting and gained admission to the North Carolina School of the Arts. We discuss some life-changing lessons Wood learned in high school and how to "play defiance on the forward foot." He plans to give up the role of Scrooge after next year's show, on its 50th anniversary, and turn it over to his oldest son, Ira David Wood IV, with whom he now alternates performances. After college, Wood spent summers in North Carolina's Outer Banks performing in "The Lost Colony" play and shared an entertaining story of meeting Andy Griffith during that time, while Griffith was still filming "The Andy Griffith Show." We learn about Griffith's competitive spirit and how would cheat at volleyball! Wood tells us, "You don't remember plays, you remember moments on stage." Wood's desire to perform the Charles Dickens classic stemmed from wanting to do a Christmas play because, at the time, none of the theaters in Raleigh  were open during the holidays.  We talk about the amazing heritage of theaters in Raleigh. Theatre in the Park was renamed the Ira David Wood III Pullen Park Theatre in 2004. Wood shares that his daughter, Evan Rachel Wood, who has starred in "Westworld," and "Frozen II," went to Hollywood to work when she was just 6 years old, and talks about how he missed so much and now strives to make every moment with her and his other children count.   Find out more info on Theater in The Park