Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol
Adapted and directed by Rick Lombardo, Original music by Anna Lackaff & Rick Lombardo
Traditional music arranged by Anna Lackaff, Original lyrics by Rick Lombardo
Original costume design by Frances Nelson McSherry & Christine Alger
Choreography by Ilyse Robbins
Bridget Kathleen O'Leary, associate director; Anna Lackaff, musical direction; Peter Colao, scenic design; Christine Alger, costume design; John R. Malinowski, lighting design; Rick Lombardo, sound design; Carola Morrone, production stage manager; Jennifer Braun, assistant stage manager
CAST (in alphabetical order): Kristina Ayanian, Peter Davenport, Claire Dickson, Paul D. Farwell, Nathan Greess, Brooke Hardman, Sofia Julia Hauser, Peter Edmund Haydu, Virginia Jay, Will Keary, Samson Kohanski, Chuck Muckle, Will Osborn, Joel Perez, Victoria Sarkissian, Julian Schepis, Katrina Shinay, Lily Steven, Dawn Tucker, Becky Webber
Performances through December 28 at New Repertory Theatre
Box Office 617-923-8487 or www.newrep.org
Mother Nature did her part to set the stage with a hefty winter snowstorm and sub-freezing temperatures which cancelled New Repertory Theatre's Friday night press opening performance of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. With a deep layer of fluffy white stuff on the ground and cleanup operations well under way, a respectable audience turned out Saturday evening for the fourth annual production of Producing Artistic Director Rick Lombardo's adaptation of this classic holiday favorite. The collaboration with the Arsenal Center for the Arts and Watertown Children's Theatre features Paul D. Farwell reprising the role of Ebenezer Scrooge at the forefront of a multi-talented, multi-tasking ensemble cast.
One of the many joys inherent in the New Rep version is how astonishingly fresh it all seems, despite the fact that the work was published in 1843 and numerous venues stage it annually. In addition, we all know how the story ends, but Lombardo and company manage to sprinkle in enough surprises to keep us on our toes and highly entertained. Upon entering the lobby of the Arsenal Center, we are instantly transported to Victorian London as the costumed troupe serenades the early arrivals with seasonal songs, a harbinger of more to come during the show. With original music by Anna Lackaff and Lombardo, as well as numerous traditional carols, the performers sing, dance, and accompany themselves on over a dozen instruments, including guitar, piano, and violin. As if that weren't enough, each cast member, with the exception of Farwell, plays two or more roles and several share in the narration.
A Christmas Carol begins on Christmas Eve in the counting house of Scrooge & Marley, the latter being dead "these seven years," where we are introduced to the skinflint Scrooge and his clerk Bob Cratchit (Peter Davenport). While the former tallies his coins, Bob struggles to toil with only one lump of coal in the stove to warm him. Farwell immediately inhabits the persona of Scrooge as he deals nastily with his employee and some visitors to his office. His spirited nephew Fred (Samson Kohanski) is sent off with a series of "Bah, humbugs" ringing in his ears, while two men collecting for charity are spurned as Scrooge explains that his taxes support the work houses and prisons where the impoverished may go. Davenport shivers and shrinks, simultaneously showing the effects of the cold room and his autocratic boss, and shifts gears to engage pleasantly with Fred who is undaunted by his uncle's miserliness.
When Scrooge retires to his home for the evening, he is visited by the fearsome apparition of Jacob Marley bearing the chains he forged in life. It is a startling effect to see Peter Edmund Haydu rise from the floor of the fireplace in tattered clothes and deathly makeup, shrouded in fog and streams of light, his voice echoing powerfully as he warns Scrooge of the three ghostly visitors who will come during the night. Representing Christmas Past, Present, and Future, each of the spirits takes Scrooge on a journey to help him see the error of his ways and learn how to keep Christmas in his heart. By returning to his youth, he is reminded of his own callous upbringing by a cold father, how he reveled as an apprentice to the generous Fezziwig, and feels a part of his frozen core melting at the sight of his lost love Belle (Becky Webber), an earnest and beautiful young woman with red banana curls.
