{"id":6973,"date":"2017-12-18T06:12:35","date_gmt":"2017-12-18T11:12:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=6973"},"modified":"2018-01-01T15:11:09","modified_gmt":"2018-01-01T20:11:09","slug":"a-christmas-carol-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=6973","title":{"rendered":"A Christmas Carol"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"A

Greg Wood as Ebenezer Scrooge; photo: T. Charles Erickson<\/p><\/div>\n

Last year, McCarter Theatre Center\u2019s revamped its annual production of Charles Dickens\u2019s A Christmas Carol<\/em> for the first time in almost two decades. This season is the second with the update, and the new version is really coming into its own. Director Adam Immerwahr<\/a> has achieved a solid Victorian England vibe for this sparkling production, which runs through December 31.<\/p>\n

Immerwahr\u2019s intent is to explore how Scrooge\u2019s redemption \u201cisn\u2019t just the redemption of one man . . . when a person changes, it can transform an entire community.\u201d He has filled it with songs from what Immerwahr calls \u201cthe treasure trove of terrific Christmas music of Dickens\u2019s era.\u201d Even some carols not used explicitly have \u201cbecome part of the underscoring of the play.\u201d<\/p>\n

The show manages to be both different with fresh sets and staging and familiar, retaining the adaptation by award-winning\u00a0 playwright David Thompson. Ebenezer Scrooge (played to perfection by Greg Wood) has never said \u201cBah! Humbug!\u201d with more feeling, Bob Cratchit (Jon Norman Schneider) never more patiently put-upon, and the rest of the cast, mostly playing multiple parts, never more lively. Dickens\u2019s work is stuffed with memorable characters, giving special mention of Mrs. Dilber (Sue Jin Song), Solicitor David\/Mr. Fezziwig (Thom Sesma), Mrs. Cratchit (Jessica Bedford), and Mrs. Fezziwig\/Lady Char\/Laundress (Anne L. Nathan). Though many parts amount to a cameo, all were quite up to snuff.<\/p>\n

The familiar tale of a miser\u2019s comeuppance is all there, how the Ghost of Christmas Past (Adeline Edwards) reminds him how he gave up his youthful opportunities for happiness in order to pursue wealth; the Ghost of Christmas Present (Mimi B. Francis) shows him how others, especially the Cratchits live now; and the Ghost of Christmas Future (Christopher Livingston, who also plays young Marley) lays out a frightening scenario that causes him to vow to change. Old Marley\u2019s ghost (Michael Genet) has my favorite line from the story, the sententious \u201cI wear the chains I forged in life.\u201d The dark scenes change to light as Scrooge wakes Christmas morning a new man.<\/p>\n

The cast is augmented by a 36-member community and youth ensemble, whose members greet theater-goers, sing carols, ring bells, and dance exuberantly! The entire audience becomes involved, with the singing of a carol at the beginning and end of the performance.<\/p>\n

Production credits to Daniel Ostling (set design); Michael Friedman (composer); Charles Sundquist (musical direction); Darron L. West (sound design); Lorin Latarro (choreography); Linda Cho (costumes); Lap Chi Chu (lighting); Jeremy Chernick (special effects); and Gillian Lane-Plescia (dialect coach).<\/p>\n

For tickets, call the box office at 609-258-2787 or visit the box office online<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last year, McCarter Theatre Center\u2019s revamped its annual production of Charles Dickens\u2019s A Christmas Carol for the first time in almost two decades. This season is the second with the update, and the new version is really coming into its … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"A Christmas Carol - A holiday staple sure to please in this lively, music-filled rendition.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[272,366,104,147],"tags":[13,329,1198],"class_list":["post-6973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-comedy","category-drama","category-the-morgue","category-theater","tag-charles-dickens","tag-mccarter-theatre","tag-scrooge"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2NkiT-1Ot","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6973"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6973\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6974,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6973\/revisions\/6974"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}