A CHRISTMAS CAROL (Menken/Ahrens)

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Posted: 3/23/17 at 8:48am

Help me find my lost memories!

Recently, I found my old souvenir program from Alan Menken and Lynn Ahrens' A CHRISTMAS CAROL. I saw it at MSG when I was just 10 years old, and Jim Dale was my Scrooge.

Flipping through my little book, I was amazed at all the "names" involved with the show over the years:

• Ben Vereen as the Ghost of Christmas Present
• Ken Jennings as the Ghost of Christmas Past
• Mary Stout as Mrs. Fezziwig
• Emily Skinner as Emily (Belle)
• Paul Kandel as Jacob Marley
• Terrence Mann, Rodger Daltrey, Walter Charles, Hal Linden as Scrooge
• William Ivey Long, costume designer

Of course, this was all before I became a Broadway baby, so I had no idea who any of these people were at the time. What do you love/not love about this adaptation of the story? Who was your Scrooge?

[PatrickDC]

Posted: 12/1/18 at 3:17am

I thought there was a more recent thread on the Menken/Ahrens "A Christmas Carol" but couldn't find it via the search feature. 

Anyway...as I've said before, I ADORE this score, and I'm just a huge nerd/fan of the original Dickens novella. I was thrilled to see that Hillbarn Theater (Foster City, south of San Francisco) was doing it for the first time this year. Just got home a little while ago. I've seen many shows at Hillbarn. It's sort of a funky little theater, a bit oddly shaped, and no raised stage per se. Most of the shows I've seen have pre-recorded music but ACC had a live orchestra. Sixteen pieces per the playbill, and they must have used a shoehorn and Crisco to squeeze that many musicians in the loft. 

A lot of love goes into Hillbarn's productions, and for what it is, I always have an enjoyable time. It's a short drive from my home, and tickets are usually inexpensive. One memorable wardrobe malfunction was in Spamalot when the Black Knight's limbs popped off at odd moments. But it was all good and with a show like Spamalot, well it seemed to work. LOL 

But I digress. So, ACC was actually very good but then again, I'm a huge fan of the show. I do have two main quibbles. First, I love the convention Ahrens came up with of having Scrooge meet the three Ghosts prior to their visits later that night: the lamplighter, variety showman, and beggar woman. Hillbarn had different actors playing the pre-ghosts and the ghosts. A male lamplighter and female Christmas Past, male showman and female Present, and beggar woman and a massive genderless black robed spirit puppet for Future (looked like two actors under the voluminous robes working the controls). I really missed the dual roles, I think it was a brilliant addition to Dickens' story. 

Second, I've seen this done without an intermission and it's fine. Tonight Act 1 ran from 8 to 9:20. After a 20 minute intermission Act 2 ran about 25 minutes. I feel they could definitely tighten up the show and perform with no intermission. The Present and Future scenes merged a bit at the end of Act 1 with the Future ghost appearing and just standing center stage. The stage lights go out, and we are in silence and darkness while Future slowly and carefully exits. House lights up. Oh. I guess it's intermission. A spattering of applause. 

Standout performers were Christopher Reber as Scrooge, James Ambler as Cratchit, and Sammi Hilderbrandt as Christmas Past (she carries a very cool hard cover book with pages that glow when she opens it like a fan...a very cool effect when the stage is dark). Overall the ensemble was good, making countless costume and character changes. The two big ensemble dances -- Fezziwig's Ball and Abundance and Charity -- were well done and I'm always amazed how large groups don't crash into one another dancing on such a small stage. 

Oh wait a second, I do have one other issue. My favorite scene is Marley's visit and the Link by Link number. I love Menken's music here. The spirits were fine but the choreography was not particularly inspiring. The best choreography I ever saw was many years ago when all the spirits were doing slightly different movements, but it all seemed to flow together. There were also some mic issues so the lyrics were not clear for those unfamiliar with them. 

Finally, I have to say, I'm a 54 year old man who never cries during movies and shows, but I'm am usually close to tears during the Christmas Past segment. Ahrens' added elements of Scrooge's father being jailed, Scrooge's sad childhood, and his choosing money over Emily's unconditional love just tugs so very hard at my heart. Gets me every time! And makes Scrooge's ultimate transformation and redemption all the more powerful. 

What a delightful way to kick off the holidays! Sunday I'm making my annual visit to the Dickens Christmas Faire at the Cow Palace, so by the end of the weekend I will have had my fill of Victorian England! LOL 

Happy Christmas! 

[adamgreer]

Posted: 12/1/18 at 10:34am

I used to see this every year when it played in the MSG “theater.” Despite the horrendous sight lines in there unless you sprung for one of the best seats (which I always did because otherwise you felt like the show was being performed in another zip code), it was always great fun. I got to take my nieces and nephews every year when they were old enough and they loved it, too.

My favorite Scrooge was Tony Randall, with F. Murray Abraham just behind him. Jim Dale was also excellent. Ben Vereen was excellent as the Ghost of Christmas Past.

It’s a fun show with a lovely score.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 12/1/18 at 10:56am

I love the score. It's not Christmas to me without that original cast album and "A Place Called Home".

[bear88]

Posted: 12/2/18 at 10:05pm

• PatrickDC said: "
  I thought there was a more recent thread on the Menken/Ahrens "A Christmas Carol" but couldn't find it via the search feature.

Anyway...as I've said before, I ADORE this score, and I'm just a huge nerd/fan of the original Dickens novella. I was thrilled to see that Hillbarn Theater (Foster City, south of San Francisco) was doing it for the first time this year. Just got home a little while ago. I've seen many shows at Hillbarn. It's sort of a funky little theater, a bit oddly shaped, and no raised stage per se. Most of the shows I've seen have pre-recorded music but ACC had a live orchestra. Sixteen pieces per the playbill, and they must have used a shoehorn and Crisco to squeeze that many musicians in the loft.

A lot of love goes into Hillbarn's productions, and for what it is, I always have an enjoyable time. It's a short drive from my home, and tickets are usually inexpensive. One memorable wardrobe malfunction was in Spamalot when the Black Knight's limbs popped off at odd moments. But it was all good and with a show like Spamalot, well it seemed to work. LOL

But I digress. So, ACC was actually very good but then again, I'm a huge fan of the show. I do have two main quibbles. First, I love the convention Ahrens came up with of having Scrooge meet the three Ghosts prior to their visits later that night: the lamplighter, variety showman, and beggar woman. Hillbarn had different actors playing the pre-ghosts and the ghosts. A male lamplighter and female Christmas Past, male showman and female Present, and beggar woman and a massive genderless black robed spirit puppetfor Future (looked like two actors under the voluminous robes working the controls). I really missed the dual roles, I think it was a brilliant addition to Dickens' story.

Second, I've seen this done without an intermission and it's fine. Tonight Act 1 ran from 8 to 9:20. After a 20 minute intermission Act 2 ran about 25 minutes. I feel they could definitely tighten up the show and perform with no intermission. The Present and Future scenes merged a bit at the end of Act 1 with the Future ghost appearing and just standing center stage. The stage lights go out, and we are in silence and darkness while Future slowly and carefully exits. House lights up. Oh. I guess it's intermission. A spattering of applause.

Standout performers were Christopher Reber as Scrooge, James Ambler as Cratchit, and Sammi Hilderbrandt as Christmas Past (she carries a very cool hard cover book with pages that glow when she opens it like a fan...a very cool effect when the stage is dark). Overall the ensemble was good, making countless costume and character changes. The two big ensemble dances -- Fezziwig's Ball and Abundance and Charity -- were well done and I'm always amazed how large groups don't crash into one another dancing on such a small stage.

Oh wait a second, I do have one other issue. My favorite scene is Marley's visit and the Link by Link number. I love Menken's music here. The spirits were fine but the choreography was not particularly inspiring. The best choreography I ever saw was many years ago when all the spirits were doing slightly different movements, but it all seemed to flow together. There were also some mic issues so the lyrics were not clear for those unfamiliar with them.

Finally, I have to say, I'm a 54 year old man who never cries during movies and shows, but I'm amusually close to tears during the Christmas Past segment. Ahrens' added elements of Scrooge's father being jailed, Scrooge's sad childhood, and his choosing money over Emily's unconditional love just tugs so very hard at my heart. Gets me every time! And makes Scrooge's ultimate transformation and redemption all the more powerful.

What a delightful way to kick off the holidays! Sunday I'm making my annual visit to the Dickens Christmas Faire at the Cow Palace, so by the end of the weekend I will have had my fill of Victorian England! LOL

Happy Christmas!"

I assume you saw the Notre Dame de Namur production held in Belmont at some point. Unhappily, that stopped a few years ago, but I saw that show every year, more than any other musical I'm likely to see. (At first, this was because we had friends or friends' children in it, but then I just liked it - and it was such a Belmont tradition.) So it seems shrewd for Hillbarn to pick it up, because so many people in this part of the Bay Area are familiar with it.

It was different seeing the show at the Hillbarn's small theater, similar in size to the San Jose Stage, than Notre Dame's large theater. It's quite difficult to pull off the big production numbers, like Fezziwig, in such a small space. (For the first time, despite the best efforts of the performers, I found that the song dragged a bit for me.)

James Ambler, as Bob Cratchit, and Sammi Hildebrandt, as the Ghost of Christmas Past, were definitely standouts. I too missed casting the ghosts as regular people who Scrooge meets beforehand - and treats poorly. I didn't enjoy Abundance and Charity as much, because the song should open the second act, and it's such an out-of-time goof that it shouldn't really be performed by actors in Dickensian garb. But the cast was smaller, and so that was understandable. My biggest gripe was the the Ghost of Christmas Future, and the oddly-timed intermission it seemed to require. It's certainly not a reason not to see the show, just something I didn't think worked.

The best part was hearing the music performed live, something Notre Dame dropped a while ago. I'm a sucker for the score and it was performed very well. I honestly don't know where they hide the musicians, but it was a good-sized orchestra for such a small venue.

[PatrickDC]

Posted: 12/3/18 at 1:25pm

I did see the annual Notre Dame de Namur production, not every year but perhaps every two or three years. Beautiful campus, nice theater, and free tickets (for the price of a new toy or canned goods). Though I'm not from Belmont and never knew anyone in the show, I could tell from the chatter around me that many patrons had friends and family in the shows, and most were return visitors year after year. It was a much-loved tradition. 

I agree with you Bear and hope Hillbarn makes this an annual production. They'd be smart to tap into the Notre Dame audiences given the close proximity of the two theaters. As theaters have known for eons, ACC (and Nutcracker for ballet companies) are cash cows that always do well. Through a friend, I knew a former SFBallet dancer. Most of the dancers *HATED* doing Nutcracker every year, but they had no choice; it generates lots of cash for the company.