He’s one of literature's most famous bad guys-turned-nice guy: Ebenezer Scrooge, who changes his tune in the Charles Dickens classic "A Christmas Carol."

For 15 years, a musical adaptation has been running each holiday season at The Players Theatre in Greenwich Village. For 13 years of those years, Eric Fletcher has portrayed Mr. Scrooge, bringing a sense of humor to the famous literary curmudgeon.  

"He finds everything funny, even the things he hates,” Fletcher said. 

"A Christmas Carol: The Musical" is a mix of holiday classics and original music, produced by Be Bold Productions.

It was created by the husband-and-wife team of Michael Sgouros and Brenda Bell, with Bell writing lyrics and adapting the book, and Sgouros writing the original music, played live by a unique trio.

"All the instruments we use come from one family of musical instruments, and that's the percussion family, so all the instruments in the pit are percussion instruments. We use vibraphone, marimba,” said Sgouros, whose daughter Emily also plays alongside him in the pit band.  

Those instruments come in handy when Scrooge is visited by four spirits, changing his perspective on the world and leading to a finale that the creators hope will allow for folks to leave the theater in a better mood than they came in.

"I've seen people come in so grumpy, like a Scrooge, and walk out so happy and hugging me and saying it's the best time they ever had,” Bell said. "I don't know, I just want people to really feel good, and I think they do." 

The show runs at The Players Theatre on MacDougal Street though Dec. 30. For more information, head to its website.