“GOD BLESS US EVERYONE”: Vivia Font, in the back row at right, is happy to be back on stage at McCarter Theatre, playing Mrs. Cratchit in “A Christmas Carol.” Also pictured are Andrea Goss (Christmas Present), Kenneth De Abrew (Bob Cratchit), and Joel McKinnon Miller (Ebenezer Scrooge). (Photo by T. Charles Erickson)

By Anne Levin

For Vivia Font, who plays the role of Margaret Cratchit in McCarter Theatre’s current production of A Christmas Carol, the stage and rehearsal rooms of the venue on University Place feel like home.

It was at McCarter that the actor, who has appeared in regional theater, television, and films, found her vocation as a high school-aged participant in McCarter’s Summer Shakespeare program — first as a student, and later as a teacher. She also appeared at McCarter as a soldier in the annual production of The Nutcracker by Princeton Ballet, now known as American Repertory Ballet.

“That Shakespeare program was probably one of the big reasons I became an actor,” Font said between rehearsals of A Christmas Carol last week. “I loved it. Kids who were in it came from all around the area. I found my crew there, my theater crew. It was hugely influential.”

Font, who lives in Princeton with her family and is a lecturer in theater at Princeton University’s Lewis Center for the Arts, has longstanding connections to the town. She grew up in Highland Park and graduated from Stuart Country Day School. Her mother, Elba Barzellato, was for many years the adult services librarian at Princeton Public Library. After school, Font would spend time in the library waiting for her mother to finish for the day.

“She found things for me to do, through the library, McCarter Theatre, and the Arts Council,” Font said. “I did theater at Stuart. And then my mother told me about the Summer Shakespeare program at McCarter. I did that for the next four years.”

After graduating from New York University, Font went to graduate school in San Diego, where she taught in a bilingual theater program similar to the one at McCarter. Her fluency in English, Spanish, and Portugese, which was her first language, was a definite plus. After graduate school, Font spent some time back in New York, where she found representation and booked acting jobs in small and regional theaters.

Next were contracts at the Old Globe theater in San Diego, followed by back-to-back seasons at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. It was there that Font met Sarah Rasmussen, now the artistic director of McCarter Theatre. Thanks to her years at McCarter, the Shakespeare Festival was a natural fit.

“I think because I started that program at McCarter so young, and because it was so welcoming, I had no sense I was supposed to be afraid of Shakespeare,” said Font. “I sort of delved into the musicality of the language. Even if I didn’t understand every single word, the music of it took me along. And then, I started to like and really work the language, and understand it.”

Having seen A Christmas Carol at McCarter only once before, Font didn’t know a lot about the current production, which is directed by Lauren Keating and stars Joel McKinnon Miller as Ebenezer Scrooge.

“Being in the show is a delight,” she said. “It’s such a wonderful story. And it’s a joy to be here, to be able to walk to work, and to be back at McCarter. I am really excited for people to see the show. Joel is a wonderful Scrooge, and Lauren has done a beautiful job. And I love working with all of these young actors, one of whom is actually from Stuart. So that’s especially exciting.”

A Christmas Carol continues through December 29. Choirs from local schools will perform 45 minutes before select performances. Visit Mccarter.org for ticket information.