A Christmas Carol

Reviews

• Unlike other versions of the iconic story, which attempt to dazzle with special effects, this one has a more introspective tone adding dimension to the characters that have come to be so familiar to us.Writer Jack Thorne applied the same psychological depth to Scrooge and company that he so winningly used to portray the Harry Potter characters currently on stage in  "The Cursed Child."   The effect draws us into the story as if for the first time. Scrooge is not simply a nasty fellow. He's a product of a class system that rewards the rich and condemns the poor. And the ghosts that visit him aren't just scary visions. They have personalities too. Their interactions reveal in compelling fashion just how old Ebenezer came to be such a curmudgeon.

  Read More

• From the moment you enter Broadway’s Lyceum Theatre, prepare for joy. Very Christmassy joy, even if it is a little early. In the aisles and from the stage, Campbell Scott (Scrooge), Andrea Martin (the Ghost of Christmas Past), LaChanze (the Ghost of Christmas Present/Miss Fezziwig) and their cast mates of A Christmas Carol throw cookies and clementines from the stage to as many people as they can in every corner of the theater.

  Read More

• The affecting, artfully staged new production on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre, directed in brisk, simple strokes by Matthew Warchus and originally seen at London’s Old Vic, strips away much of the gothic Dickensian atmosphere that other versions emphasize, while adding a few theatrical flourishes in keeping with today’s emphasis on immersive theater. With a cast led by Campbell Scott as the soulless money-lender Ebenezer Scrooge, it emphasizes the essential contours of the irresistible story, allowing the actors to provide much of the emotional coloring, and, with few new twists, leaving the tale to cast its familiar spell. And so, yes, when Tiny Tim, played by the adorable actor Jai Ram Srinivasan (alternating with Sebastian Ortiz), merrily meets the reformed Scrooge in the final moments, and says the immortal line, “God bless us, every one,” my sniffly cold suddenly got snifflier. Mission accomplished.

  Read More

• Unlike other versions of the iconic story, which attempt to dazzle with special effects, this one has a more introspective tone adding dimension to the characters that have come to be so familiar to us.Writer Jack Thorne applied the same psychological depth to Scrooge and company that he so winningly used to portray the Harry Potter characters currently on stage in  "The Cursed Child."   The effect draws us into the story as if for the first time. Scrooge is not simply a nasty fellow. He's a product of a class system that rewards the rich and condemns the poor. And the ghosts that visit him aren't just scary visions. They have personalities too. Their interactions reveal in compelling fashion just how old Ebenezer came to be such a curmudgeon.

  Read More