A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol
Written by Charles Dickens
Adapted/Directed by Kevin Von Feldt
Starring John Goodman, Jane Leeves, and Christopher Lloyd as Ebenezer Scrooge
This run is late into the holidays, running through January 3rd, with its plot nurturing a time for change: The New Year.
In hopes of paying off a debt, Charles Dickens scribed a story, keeping in mind the current personal and political dilemmas of 1849. "A Christmas Carol" is the tale of churlish Ebenezer Scrooge, whose penny-pinching lifestyle undergoes a re-evaluation in the course of one evening due to the visitations of spirits, presenting him with visions of Christmases from his past, present, and immediately following his death.
Christopher Lloyd is sensational, surpassing any portrayal of the grumpy ol' Scrooge to date. Into the second act, we find it double exciting when the hysterical John Goodman teams up with Lloyd as the Ghost of Christmas Present. The laughter is nonstop with impromptu dialogue snowstorms during the final 20 minutes of technical errors. Jane Leeves is also quite professional in her cameo as Mrs. Cratchit, perplexingly stealing the scenes from the other not-so-well-known ensemble, whose characters are built to please.
The remainder of Kevin Von Feldt's ultra-slow-paced production doesn't necessarily succeed, as his technicians and child actors fail him miserably. At the Kodak Theatre, you would expect each casting choice to be top notch; however, here, we witness the least-talented Tiny Tim ever seen in this holiday tale, and that includes small town, community productions. In addition to the aforementioned casting embarrassment, one actress declines to speak in an English accent, taking advantage of the audience's forgiveness.
With all of set designer Jeff Hiles's unnecessarily extravagant locales, where was the artificial snow? Obviously thousands of dollars were put into the design alone, but alas, NO SNOW! It was colder in the theatre than it looked on stage. (When more than 75% of the audience is wearing coats in the middle of the performance, you would think, change the temperature. Even following numerous complaints, which I witnessed when adding in my own, there was no response to the complaints, as usual.)
Perhaps technical rehearsals were scarce. Nonetheless, when asked how I enjoyed the show, I responded, "John Goodman and Christopher Lloyd were amazing but still less than I expected." If you're a tourist inclined to see big stars perform in a well-known play, then I suggest seeing this farcical mayhem. But if you often venture out to see great theatre in Los Angeles, I decline to comment.
On a Grading Scale: Bah Humbug.