Does anyone ever actually read Dickens’ novella A Christmas Carol (I know I haven’t…), or do we mostly know the story
from various TV and theatre adaptations?
I had never seen a live production before seeing Geva’s; my first introduction
to the story, and still my all-time favorite TV version, is Mister
Magoo’s Christmas Carol (with all those
wonderful Broadway-feeling songs, and Tiny Tim’s “razzleberry dressing”).
 |
| Guy Paul holding Megan Mueller |
Geva’s show, of course, doesn’t omit the characters of
Scrooge’s sister or nephew in order to fit into a one-hour time slot, so it’s a
much fuller and truer adaptation.
This is the fourth year of Geva’s third version of the show, and this
one includes material written by director Mark Cuddy to help “fill in the blanks”
from the novella’s dialogue. Greg
Coffin’s music and lyrics fit the atmosphere perfectly, and were wonderfully
sung by the cast, which consisted of seven equity actors supplemented by an
ensemble of local non-equity adults (four from All Your Questions Answered) and children (it is always so heartwarming to watch
talented kids on stage!). Scrooge
is played by the talented Guy Paul (whom I recognized from seeing him on
Broadway in 1776, Tenderloin, The King and I, and Twelve Angry Men).
The children in the audience ate up the special effects, including
the Ghost of Christmas Past, who is suspended
over the stage during her entire performance, and one particularly cool moment
that I won’t give away, but I would love to know what material Scrooge’s door
is made from! And it was great to
see children in the audience, and to hear their excited reactions. At the prologue talk, Mark explained
that A Christmas Carol is “often the
first time someone sees live performance theatre” and the theatre “want to put
its best foot forward.” It’s a
fast-paced production, enhanced by video projection to help set the moods of
different scenes. In keeping with
the story’s subtitle, “a Ghost Story of Christmas,” and especially to play to
the children in the audience, Mark gives us some nice scary moments, both on and
off-stage.
It was a delightful performance, and I can see why it’s an
annual favorite, just like The Nutcracker
ballet. It runs through December 28, so there’s still time to catch the show
and get in the holiday spirit!
http://www.gevatheatre.org/shows/a-christmas-carol/
No comments:
Post a Comment