Mrs. Fezziwig (Gail Reynolds, second from right) tells her husband (Joe Strickland, right) about the desserts she prepared for their holiday party as young Scrooge (Anthony McDonald, center) and other party guests (from left, Laura Kuehn, Leonard Gammon, Josh Carter and Danielle Engholm) look on in “Bah Humbug.” World Photo by Madeline Steege

COOS BAY — It’s a familiar scene when Bob Cratchit pleads with his boss, Ebeneezer Scrooge, for a day off on Christmas.

But then Cratchit stands up and tells Scrooge he must accept Jesus Christ as his savior and, before walking out, leaves some literature behind.

Holy rewrite! We’re not in the land of Dickens anymore.

It’s “Bah Humbug,” an overtly religious adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” opening tonight at the Egyptian Theatre, presented by On Broadway Thespians.

Director Serge Vasquez said he liked the play so much when he saw it in Antioch, Calif., that he camped out at the theater until he was able to meet author Frank Ballesteros and beg for the script.

“I thought it would be ideal for this community,” Vasquez said. “It’s a conservative, religious community.”

Vasquez said he became friends with Ballesteros and received at no charge exclusive rights to use and change the script. Though it was the religious content that drew him to the play, Vasquez said he cut quite a bit of it from a much longer original. But he kept enough to get the point across.

Scrooge (Ben Carter) makes clear he rejects not just Christmas but Christianity, calling religion a fairy tale. Anne Cratchit (Gail Reynolds) would like her husband to ask Scrooge for raise, but Bob (Leonard Gammon) seems more interested in getting Scrooge to join his church.

It’s stunning to see such assertiveness from a character who is usually so meek, though proselytizing in the workplace is hardly recommended for someone under constant threat of termination.

After rebuffing the invitation of his nephew Fred (Josh Carter or co-director Michael Gonzalez) to Christmas dinner and shooing away some carolers, Scrooge spends Christmas Eve getting back to business, asking Bob to look up the past-due accounts. He gleefully tells client Mrs. Cooper (Laura Kuehn) she’ll be going to debtors’ prison and plays hardball with some commodities traders (Joe Strickland, Gammon) looking to buy corn. And he grants his clerk the day off without pay.

Later, the sleeping Scrooge is awakened by a strange man who starts a debate about empiricism before revealing he is the ghost of Jacob Marley (Strickland). Then Marley explains that he has been condemned to eternity in hell because he did not accept Christ, and this will happen to Scrooge also unless he converts.

This focus has the effect of turning attention away from the actions that define how Scrooge has lived his life by reducing everything to a question of belief.

Shortly after, the Spirit of Christmas Past (Miranda Saia) comes to take Scrooge on a tour of his younger years. At an English boarding school, classmates (Desi Kuehn, Alyshia Fox and Laura Kuehn) prepare to go home for a break while young Scrooge (Anthony McDonald) stays behind to avoid his family, except for his sister, Fan (Chelsea Fults).

Years later, as an apprentice, young Scrooge attends his first office Christmas party with his boss, Mr. Fezziwig (Strickland), and Mrs. Fezziwig (Reynolds), a pair of bon vivants who have a gift for putting everyone around them in a good mood. Recognizing the Fezziwigs as the most delightful people he has encountered in quite a long time, the older Scrooge asks the spirit if he can stay at the party a while longer.

Instead, he flashes forward to getting dumped by girlfriend Belle (Desi Kuehn), who accuses him of worshipping a false idol with his focus on money.

Early in the spirit’s visit, Scrooge showed signs of softening, wishing he could have been nicer to the carolers and Bob that day. But the spirits have a further agenda.

The spirit of Christmas Present (Saia) takes Scrooge to the Cratchit home, where Anne is preparing dinner with four of her six children — Belinda (Madysen Hannah), Peter (Eric McDonald), Elizabeth (Kuehn) and Edward (Fults). The oldest, Martha (Fox), arrives from her apprenticeship and decides to surprise their dad, who is at church with Tiny Tim (Mikayla Slaska).

Still, it takes the spirit of Christmas Yet to Come (Ray Neese) to get Scrooge to his spiritual destination.

The cast also includes Bonny Hunter, Kai Saia and Danielle Engholm.

The play runs through Dec. 16. Performances are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and at 2 p.m. Sundays, except at 1 p.m. Dec. 9; there is an opening gala at 6 tonight. Tickets are $10, $7 for children and $8 for matinees.