A Christmas Carol

 

As important as Bing Crosby Christmas carols are to my enjoyment of the holiday season is the Sacramento Theatre Company’s production of “A Christmas Carol,” particularly with Matt K. Miller, playing the role of Scrooge this year for the eighth time.

This musical was commissioned by STC 32 years ago, written by Richard Hellesen with music by David de Berry, and has been an audience favorite ever since. This year’s production is directed by Michael Laun and Miranda D. Lawson (who also plays Mrs. Cratchit and Mrs. Fezziwig).
There are 35 named characters in the show and 39 actors, many of whom do more than one role and alternate with other actors throughout the run of the show.

The success of any production of “A Christmas Carol” is Ebenezer Scrooge himself, the miserly grump who finds holidays a “humbug” and just an excuse to steal money from employers by employees who take the day off to celebrate with their families, yet still expect a salary.

I have reviewed four of Miller’s eight performances. He just gets better and better. He has perfected the moments when the curmudgeon has a positive thought because of something he is shown. His absolute childish glee at the end, realizing that he has not missed Christmas after all is infectious, and his affection for Tiny Tim (Leo Bettinger, sharing the role with Kit Bettinger and David Ngirmidol) brings tears to the eyes.

In several reviews from previous years, I have complained about the reverberation used for the ghosts and I will complain again this year. Jacob Marley (Eric Wheeler) and the ghost of Christmas Past (Olivia Stevenson) were so reverberated as to make most of their dialog unintelligible, particularly bad for Wheeler, who gave an over the top dramatic performance that was lost due to reverb distortion. There was only minor reverb for the Ghost of Christmas Present (the effusive Ryan Blanning), and it was lovely to be able to hear him so clearly.

Blanning also plays an enthusiastic Fezziwig, Scrooge’s first employer, who makes working so enjoyable by the way he treats his employees. It makes the Scrooge of today have passing thoughts of how he treats his own clerk, Bob Cratchit (Mike DiSalvo).

Lexie Allison is a warm and loving Fan (Scrooge’s sister). She shares the role with Isabella Hernandez. The role of Ebenezer the child is shared by Lorenzo Lopez and Miller Traum. Sadly, I missed which actor played it on opening night, but he was quite good.

Griffith Munn plays Scrooge as a young man, in love with Belle (Maddy Grace Wood, who alternates with Elysia Martinez).

Devin Weiser is a street singer, who fills in many “change the scenery” spots. What a beautiful, clear voice she has. Lucy Lederer and Cara McIntyre share the role of the beggar child whom Scrooge attacks in his curmudgeon days.

The set by Renee Degarmo and Jarrod Bodensteiner is a wonder, with large pieces that roll or rotate while actors walk them telling the Dickens story, morphing into the characters singing the songs about the story. The smoothness of the transitions is due in large part to the lighting design of Jordan Burkholder, who directs the audience to one side of the stage while the technicians are quietly changing the scenery on the other side.

Costumes by Jessica Minnihan are lush, especially in party scenes, though I did wonder why so many of the guests at Fezziwig’s party were wearing glasses when there did not seem to be any other scene where glasses were so prevalent.

Charles Dickens described the holidays as “a good time: a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of in the long calendar of the year when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of other people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.”

As we move forward through this holiday season may we, like Scrooge, take those words to heart and be a little more kind, a little more forgiving, and a little more loving toward those around us.

Sacramento Theater Company’s “A Christmas Carol” is a 32-year-old Sacramento tradition and should be on everyone’s list of things to do to enhance their holiday spirit.

A Christmas Carol

Matt K. Miller as Ebenezer Scrooge and Gregg Koski as the ghost of Jacob Marley
perform in Sacramento Theatre Company's 2017 production of “A Christmas Carol.”
Charr Crail Photography/Courtesy photo

It is difficult to imagine a Sacramento Theatre Company production of ‘A Christmas Carol’ without Matt K. Miller as Scrooge. Performing the role for the sixth time, he is the stingiest, meanest, grinchiest Scrooge there ever was — but after his reformation, his child-like enthusiasm for having not missed Christmas after all is infectious and never fails to bring a tear every time I see it.

This musical version of the Dickens classic, directed by Michael Laun and Michael Jenkinson, is celebrating its 30th anniversary, and returns to the STC stage after a five-year absence. Sacramento Theatre Company commissioned this musical by Richard Hellesen and David de Berry in 1987. Since then, the work has been widely performed, with perennial productions in Rochester, N.Y.; Denver; Dallas; Baton Rouge, La.; and Phoenix; among other communities.

Greg Coffin modernized the music a few years ago, and re-orchestrated the soundtrack for the 25th anniversary production. (The orchestration is recorded; no live orchestra was used … but you’d never know it.)

This is a pleasant musical with tunes that might not be memorable, but are thoroughly enjoyable. There are 35 actors mentioned in the biography, but many roles are double-cast to allow more of STC’s Young Professional’s Conservatory program to appear on stage.

Miller’s real-life son, Max Miller, for example, appears as Tiny Tim, alternating with Miller Traum. Max made his stage debut in this role five years ago, at age 4, and is now a seasoned professional.
The set by Renee Degarmo and Jarrod Bodensteiner is a wonder, with large pieces that roll or rotate while actors walk across them, telling the Dickens story and morphing into the characters singing the songs about the story.

That it works without a hitch is a miracle, though there was a slight problem that stopped the show cold for several minutes the night we went. The actors left the stage and the audience went into the lobby, and when the problem was fixed, all returned and the actors continued as if nothing had happened.

Michael Jenkinson plays Scrooge’s long-suffering clerk, Bob Cratchit, who must endure the conditions under which he works because he has a family of six at home — his wife (Aviva Pressman) and five children, including Tiny Tim (a good performance by Traum, whose “God bless us every one” rang out clearly).

Despite the hardships of his job, Cratchit maintains a happy disposition and greets Scrooge’s ebullient nephew Fred (David Weidoff) with good wishes for the coming holiday, though Scrooge growls and sends his beloved sister’s only child away.

Dominique Lawson and Jake Mahler are the two subscription gentlemen, soliciting funds for the poor. Their reaction at the end of the show when Scrooge reveals the contribution he wants to make to atone for many years when he did not contribute is perfect.

Gregg Koski is the chain-wearing ghost of Scrooge’s old partner, Jacob Marley, returning to Earth to warn Scrooge of what is in store for him if he does not begin to mend his ways. His interpretation is perhaps more befitting a Halloween spook than a Christmas specter, but he puts his whole soul into it.
As promised, Scrooge is visited by three spirits. The first, the Ghost of Christmas Past (eighth-grader Sarah Arata in her first Main Stage production, alternating with 14-year-old Fiona Gillogly) leads Scrooge through the happy memories of his past where he sees himself as a child (Ian Kennedy, alternating with Sebastian Fernandez), and, first, apprentice and then young man (Will Block), who definitely shows the beginnings of the cold, unfeeling Scrooge that he will become in later life.
Scrooge enjoys reliving the festivities at the shop of his jolly employer Fezziweg (Jake Mahler), who shows how happy he can make his employees with not much money at all.

Scrooge then sees the sad change when money became all important to him, ruining his relationship with the love of his life, Belle (Tyler Traum). Hints of regret begin to tug at his conscience.

Jake Mahler returns as the exuberant Ghost of Christmas Present, showing Scrooge the reality of life in the present.

I have seen this show many, many times and have never been as affected as I was this time listening to this ghost talk about the children of want and ignorance: “This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased.”

It has always seemed just a part of the script for me, but sadly in this day and age, with education programs and children’s welfare in danger, it seemed more prophetic.

By the time of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come (Zane Boyer) arrives, Scrooge is ready to atone for his past sins and lead a good, blameless life.

Sacramento Theatre Company’s “A Christmas Carol” is a long-standing holiday favorite and it is wonderful to see it back on the STC stage again. It’s the Christmas show that everyone should see, at least once.

Scrooge (Matt K. Miller) celebrates his new found outlook on life with Bob Cratachit (Michael Jenkinson) 
and Tiny Tim (Max Miller) in Sacramento Theatre Company's production of "A Christmas Carol."
Kelly Christoffersen/Courtesy photo

A Christmas Carol

 

It’s hard to imagine what the dour-faced Charles Dickens would think of Buck Busfield’s adaptation of his beloved holiday classic, “A Christmas Carol,” but it’s clear that the audience loved it.

This might more appropriately be titled “Buck Busfield’s A Christmas Carol.” Busfield wrote this version last year for B Street’s little theater, but it has been expanded this year to the larger stage and I think it benefits from having greater space in which to work.

The premise, curmudgeon Ebenezer Scrooge (Greg Alexander) explains to the audience, is that it’s been 173 years since the story was first penned (as a short story) and he’s been redeemed by hundreds of theaters all over the world every Christmas season and he’s just tired of it. He pooh-poohs the various scenarios he knows so well — Jacob Marley, the spirits, Fezziwig’s shop, Cratchit’s family, yada yada yada.

This year he has a plan to resist it all. He’s going to drink lots and lots of tea and won’t fall asleep, so the spirits can’t come to wake him.

Alexander is assisted by four of B Street’s top actors — John Lamb, Amy Kelly, Kurt Johnson and Tara Sissom — who play all the other characters in the show, and you have to imagine that it looks like “Noises Off” backstage, with so many complicated, quick costume changes.

Director Dave Pierini starts off things off slowly and then the action begins to pick up with the fabulous arrival of Jacob Marley’s ghost and continues forward at an accelerated pace until the zany “intervention” by all of the characters, popping through the many doors at the back of the stage.
It kept the audience howling all through the 90-minute, two-act play.

It seems that though Scrooge does what he can to avoid the story, the characters come unbidden and tell the story anyway. And what gems these characterizations are. Lamb has a particularly difficult time as an accident-prone messenger. He also plays Tiny Tim, shocked at learning of his presumptive fate.

Johnson’s Marley is humorously frightening, and he steps into other roles as well.

Kelly and Sissom start out as two male almsmen, soliciting funds for the poor, and then play many other male and female characters throughout the show. It’s difficult to decide which was the funniest.
Both are top comediennes, though I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for Kelly’s ability to transform herself into just about anything of any size, species or gender that she wants — a talent put to good use in this production.

Sissom is always wonderful, especially with the less-than-brilliant characters who are trying to figure life out.

But both are gems, as are their male counterparts.

The center of the action, however, is Alexander, who is bewitched, bothered and bemused as well as adamant as to his wishes, none of which is respected. Alexander is a comedian of the first order and Busfield’s Scrooge is a perfect fit.

Once again, Busfield has given the community something to laugh at (which we sorely need these days), and a loving, albeit twisted, reminder of a beloved holiday classic.

A Christmas Carol

 

There are so many actors in the Winters Theatre Company’s production of “A Christmas Carol” that it’s a wonder there are enough residents of Winters left to fill the theater.

Forty-two characters are listed in the program, though a few actors play more than one role. Still, at the final curtain, there are an awful lot of people crowded together on the stage for a bow.
This delightful multi-media production, directed by Jesse Akers, is an adaptation of the screenplay for Alistair Sim’s 1951 movie version of the Dickens classic.

The set for this show is designed by Akers and Gary Schroeder and is humongous, stretching from wall to wall in the Winters Community Center and taking up a spot in the middle of the audience as well. Walls move in and out and it’s really quite remarkable. It is, sadly, one of the weak spots of this show that so many scene changes move so slowly.

Costumes by Heather Collins are particularly attractive, and I was pleased to see that every piece was crisply ironed.

In the role of everyone’s favorite curmudgeon is Trent Beeby, a longtime Winters favorite, reprising his role from 2008. He bellows and blusters, yet quivers in the face of the ghosts who visit him. He’s particularly engaging after his “redemption.”

Robert Payawal is Scrooge’s long-suffering clerk Bob Cratchit, trying to support his large family (including the very well-behaved baby carried by wife Sarah Hinojosa through many of her scenes). Payawal gives a strong performance, as does Manny Lanzaro as Scrooge’s militantly cheerful nephew, trying to bring the spirit of the holiday to his grumpy uncle.

We all know the story. Scrooge is visited by his old dead partner Jacob Marley (Scott Graff) who comes to warn him about the path he is following and save him from the hell that Marley himself is enduring, a threat Scrooge believes is humbug.

First comes the ghost of Christmas Past, Germaine Hupe, looking celestial in her white gown and white hair. It’s a role made for Hupe and she performs it beautifully.

In the past, Scrooge meets his former self (Tyler Tufts) and his beloved sister Fan (who does not seem to have a program listing). He falls in love with Alice (Alexis Velasquez), the love of his life, a relationship that comes to an end due to his preoccupation with business, thanks to the mentorship of Mr. Jorkin (Brad Haney), whom he ruins on his way up. Haney gives one of the stronger performances among the minor players.

At intermission, a choral group sings a few a cappella Christmas carols, led off by 7-year-old Lilac Buckser, who has such a clear and clean voice. She also plays Belinda Cratchit and the young boy at the end of the show who runs an errand for Scrooge. Buckser is adorable and a real stage kid. She will be fun to watch as she gets older, if she continues with the company.

Other beautiful solos are given by Alexis Velasquez and Christian Duran (who also plays Peter Cratchit).

As Act 2 starts, Chris Thaiss makes an overpowering Ghost of Christmas Present, showing Scrooge the realities of the town in which he lives. I think there was a mixup in the action when the set for the miners of the town opened and showed a blank stage.

But Scrooge is moved by the plight of his clerk and the tug on his heartstrings begins when he watches young Tiny Tim (Kenneth Matheson).

The always-reliable Dona Akers plays Mrs. Dilber, servant for both Marley and Scrooge. Scenes are always in good hands when Akers performs.

Scott Graf is back as the faceless, voiceless Ghost of Christmas Future, draped all in black, who is the straw that broke the camel’s back for Scrooge’s scroogeness and makes him embrace the joy of the holiday and become a benefactor to the Cratchit family.

At the conclusion of the show, Buckser and Ava Back (Mary Cratchit) stand at the door with baskets for donations to help the poor of Winters through the holidays.

God bless us, every one!

A Christmas Carol

Add cJohn Lamb, left, and Greg Alexander star in the
B Street Theatre production of "A Christmas Carol,"
running through Dec. 27. B Street Theatre
staff/Courtesy photoaption

If it’s November, it must be time to think about “A Christmas Carol.”

This Charles Dickens story has been with us since 1843, when it was first published. In the past 173 years, we have experienced the tale in just about every way possible. It’s been read aloud by the author himself, and there have been stage plays, movies, musicals, a soap opera and even a production performed entirely in Klingon (Scrooge is named SQuja’).

It has been performed by humans, puppets, cartoon characters, dogs and Muppets. Ebenezer Scrooge has been played by Lionel Barrymore, Stan Freberg, Vanessa Williams, Mr. Magoo and Scrooge McDuck, among a host of others.

What more can possibly be done to this beloved holiday classic?

Buck Busfield of the B Street Theatre has figured out a new twist, believe it or not. Busfield’s Christmas shows have become noted for their unusual twists and turns and this “Christmas Carol,” part of the B Street Family Series, is no different.

Sam Reno’s intricate scenic design gives no hint of what is to come, other than noticing that there are an awful lot of doors, many of them a considerable distance off the floor.

We find, as we expect, Ebenezer Scrooge sitting at his desk on Christmas Eve. But Greg Alexander’s Scrooge is complaining about the fact that for the past 173 years, he has to re-enact this story over and over again and he’s sick and tired of it. And the premise is set.

While this is predominately a one-man show, Alexander is joined by four incredibly talented actors listed as “ensemble.” Amy Kelly, Nestor Campos Jr., John Lamb and Megan Wicks play every character who is not Scrooge, which often involves very quick costume changes.

Scrooge decides to outwit the ghosts by drinking lots of tea to keep himself awake so he won’t have to have the same dream again this year. Thus the story becomes real, not a dream. Scrooge doesn’t want to go through the angst of redemption at his gravesite yet again, but redemption comes anyway and is accomplished instead by an intervention so fast-paced that it left the audience breathless with laughter.

The effectiveness of this story relies in no small part on the lighting design of Ron Madonia and the clever “easy on, easy off” costumes of Paulette Sand-Gilbert. There was more than one occasion when I wished they would do a “Noises Off” version of this show because I’m sure what was going on back stage was crazier than what we were seeing on stage.

I will admit that at the beginning I did not like Busfield’s premise, and the middle of the show didn’t seem to know exactly where it was going, but by the end, I decided that I did like it after all.

The little kids in the audience loved it — there is an awful lot of slapstick and other visual humor that appealed to them. But I hope that at some point their parents take them to see a real version of the Dickens classic! It would be a shame if they grew up thinking this was the real deal.

A Christmas Carol

If you ever thought it would be fun to take your children or grandchildren to see Sacramento Theatre Company’s sumptuous production of “A Christmas Carol,” do it quickly. When this perennial favorite ends on Dec. 23, it will be going on hiatus for several years.

This sparkling new production, directed by Michael Laun, celebrates 25 years since the work was first commissioned for STC by Dennis Bigelow, who directed the first production. It has since been performed in several cities across the country.

With music by David deBerry and book adaptation by Richard Hellesen, this musical version of the Dickens classic includes a lot of Dickens’ original words, as the actors both narrate and perform seamlessly, while set pieces slide in, rotate and move out again. (Kudos to all the tech people who manage Scrooge’s bed so wonderfully!)

Greg Coffin modernized the music a few years ago, and has reorchestrated the soundtrack for this 25th anniversary production. (The orchestration is recorded; no live orchestra was used … but you’d never know it.)

In years past, I have complained about excessive stage fog and over-use of reverb on the microphones, and I was thrilled to find that neither of these is a problem and I found nothing whatever to grumble at.

The redoubtable Matt K. Miller, back from a tour performing in Greece, is making his fifth appearance as the ultimate Christmas grouch, Ebenezer Scrooge. I am an unabashed fan of Miller’s work and love how he balances the irascible temper of Scrooge with his rediscovered joy in being a child and a young man in love, and how his heart is awakened with feelings for both his nephew Fred (Scottie Woodard) and little Tiny Tim (played in this performance by Miller’s son, Max Miller, alternating in the role with Liam Nevin). Scrooge’s child-like glee at realizing he has not missed Christmas is particularly touching to watch.

Miller is surrounded by a host of first-rate actors, many of whom are products of STC’s Young Professional’s Conservatory.

Jerry Lee gave just the right touch of grisly remorse and dire warning to Scrooge, as his deceased partner, Jacob Marley.

Ninth-grader Courtney Shannon, in her third season with YPC, did a wonderful job as the Ghost of Christmas Past, steering Scrooge through many eras of his young life, where he sees himself as a child (Rion Romero, alternating with Cameron Stephens), an apprentice (Griffith Munn, alternating with Garrick Sigl), and a young man (Brian Watson, who definitely shows the beginnings of the cold, unfeeling Scrooge that he will become in later life). Shannon alternates in this role with Devon Hayakawa.

Could STC do this show without Michael R.J. Campbell as the ebullient Ghost of Christmas Present, whose good humor can take a sharp turn when addressing the problems of “ignorance” and “want” that Scrooge has chosen to ignore? Campbell also plays several other smaller roles, including the delightful Fezziwig, Scrooge’s first boss, kicking up his heels with his wife (Lindsay Grimes) and showing that you don’t have to spend great sums of money to make your employees feel good about their jobs.

The Cratchit family is well represented by Michael Jankinson as Bob, long-suffering clerk to Scrooge, who steadfastly maintains his good cheer despite poor working conditions, low wages, his large family and worry about Tiny Tim.

As Mrs. Cratchit, Miranda D. Lawson is a loving wife, who displays the ire against his unfeeling boss that Bob refuses to at this holiday season.

It is Tiny Tim who steals the show, however. At age 4, little Max Miller is as professional as any other actor on stage. He never stepped out of place, handled his braces and crutch expertly, knew all the words to all the songs, and recited his “God bless us, every one” in a clear voice that could be heard in the back of the house. Obviously, the apple has not fallen far from the tree.

Sacramento Theatre Company’s “A Christmas Carol” is a long-standing holiday favorite and this 25th anniversary production does it proud. It’s the Christmas show that everyone should see, at least once.

A Christmas Carol

It helps to understand that the version of “A Christmas Carol” by Alan Menken, Lynn Ahrens and Mike Ockrent — currently at the Davis Musical Theatre Company, under the direction of Jan Isaacson, with musical direction by Chris Congdon — was originally produced in the mid-1990s by Radio City in New York and was a holiday favorite at Madison Square Garden for more than 10 years.

Knowing that helps to explain what scantily clad Rockettes are doing in Victorian London and why the sepulchral Ghost of Christmas Future becomes a beautiful ballerina. This makes me think that perhaps other elements I found jarring also might have been part of the original production and not just poor directorial choices.

But to start with the good, DMTC finally has its orchestral mic-ing perfected. Hallelujah. After so many years of being unable to hear the orchestral blends, thanks to microphones and mounted speakers on each side of the theater, I was able to hear the orchestration clearly. It is just sad that so much of the music is forgettable, with one or two tuneful exceptions.

Forgettable or not, the DMTC chorus was top-notch and in great voice for all of the ensemble numbers.

Steve Isaacson is the best person in the company to play Ebenezer Scrooge. He can make a sour face better than anyone, and his snarls read genuine, as does his glee as he realizes he has not missed Christmas after all. He is positively cute in his giddiness. Hats off to him for performing this role two weeks after spinal surgery.

Jeff Nauer played the dual roles of Scrooge’s deceased partner Jacob Marley, and, in the past, his old boss the ebullient Fezziwig. He handled both roles well and was particularly entertaining as Fezziwig. I was disappointed, however, that his entrance as the chain-covered ghost had absolutely no sense of terror about it, but that he simply walked into Scrooge’s living room as if he were the butler.

Likewise, the chorus of ghosts writhing on the floor in one of the more tuneful numbers, “Link by Link,” do so in bright light in an old Victorian mansion at night. I am still wondering why that lighting choice was made.

I was impressed in the opening scene with the young woman playing the lamplighter (Leanna Friedrich), and was pleased that she later appears as the Ghost of Christmas Past. Friedrich has a lovely voice and a wonderful stage presence, though I am confused about why the ghost would join in the company at Fezziwig’s and dance with them, if she and Scrooge are supposed to be invisible.

Adam Sartain, who plays Young Ebenezer in the past, is also the Ghost of Christmas Present and a right jolly fellow he is, too, though he knows how to get his message across when he has to. He was a highlight.

When the pair visit the home of Bob Cratchit (Scott Griffith) and his wife (Dannette Vassar), I was surprised to see that the Cratchit family now only has two children, not the traditional six, though this is not the only inconsistency with the original book and previous versions on stage and screen. We now learn that Ebenezer’s father was sent to debtors’ prison, and his mother died shortly after that, leaving Ebenezer and his sister orphans. Ebenezer’s girlfriend, too, is now named Emily, not Belle.

David Ewey is a strong presence as Ebenezer’s good-hearted nephew Fred, who never gives up on his uncle and continues to extend the hand of family and friendship.

This is a show with some production and vocal problems, but they should not detract from the overall spirit of the production. It’s a good opportunity to get kids into the holiday spirit and we can all recite, with little Jimin Moon, as Tiny Tim, “God bless us, every one!”