A Musical as Entertaining as the Dickens

A Christmas Carol – BrightSide Theatre

Charles Dickens’ famous 1854 cautionary novella about the old English miser who learns to love Christmas now has more variations than there are flavors of ice cream at Baskin-Robbins. However, for audiences who enjoy their Scrooge a little less serious and traditional, and with a bit more color and spectacle to spice up their holiday, this delightful musical version will certainly hit the spot. 

Transforming this classic story into a theatrical musical, famed composer of stage and screen, Alan Menken (“Newsies,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Little Shop of Horrors”), with book & lyrics by Mike Ockrent and Lynn Ahrens (“Ragtime,” “Seussical”) created this busy, mammoth musical to fill New York’s Madison Square Garden in 1994. The show, which is heavy on production numbers and light on solos and duets, became a Manhattan holiday tradition for ten years. It was  followed by a 2004 televised version starring Kelsey Grammer. BrightSide Theatre’s production boasts a cast of 26 and all but a few actors play multiple roles. It’s one of this theatre company’s largest productions ever.

Filling the stage with his crabbiness and “Bah, humbug” (and an eventual change of heart) is talented character actor, Stan Austin. Whether shooing away charity collectors, shutting up Christmas carolers or denying a bereaved widower the money to bury his poor wife (“Nothing to Do With Me”), Austin blusters his way around the intimate Meiley-Swallow Hall stage. The show’s extended opening number, “A Jolly Good Time,” captures all the hustle and bustle of holiday shopping and Victorian street entertainment, ending with Scrooge arriving back at his modest flat on Christmas Eve. There he’s visited by Jacob Marley’s Ghost, played with supreme talent and ectoplasmic delight by Sean Rhead. He’s a spooky, chain-wrapped specter, who bursts out of Scrooge’s fourposter bed to warn him of visits from three more spirits. Marley is soon joined by a chorus of other ghosts, providing a supernatural, show-stopping production number (“Link by Link”).

The first to arrive is, of course, the Ghost of Christmas Past. She’s played with pixie-like perfection by Michelle Bolliger. Ms. Bolliger spends the most time with Scrooge, transporting him through various life-changing moments, from his childhood to his young adult years (the beautifully sung “Lights of Long Ago”). We catch a glimpse of poor little Ebenezer left behind as other young apprentices head home for the holidays. Soon afterwards we see the young boy witnessing his father being hauled off to debtors prison. But in another rousing, full-company production number, led by the infectious Christine Ronna, as Mrs. Fezziwig, Scrooge enjoys reliving the enjoyment of the annual holiday party, given by his first employer in the catchy, “Fezziwig’s Annual Christmas Ball.” Ebenezer recalls winning and then losing Emily, the one true love of his life, in “A Place Called Home.” It’s sung beautifully by Dana Clouser and Ben Weiss, as Emily and Young Scrooge. Through these vignettes the audience comes to understand just why Scrooge became the solitary, miser we know. 

Querron Smith arrives with gusto and flair as the Ghost of Christmas Present, leading the cast in yet another production number,“Abundance and Charity.” He offers Ebenezer a view of the Cratchit family, where Bob, his underpaid employee, in a very pleasing performance by Jonathan Booth, celebrates a meager holiday dinner with his wife, children and Tiny Tim (sweetly played by young Thomas Mansour). The song begins quietly, and then  gradually builds into the catchy, “Christmas Together,” another full-cast production number. The song also features Scrooge’s nephew Fred (Tyler Sonkin, in very fine voice), along with a handful of sailors, drunks and some assorted Christmas tarts.

Scrooge’s last visitor of the evening delivers the story’s darkest moments, as the miser comes to realize that his life, as it’s been lived up until now, amounts to nothing (“Dancing On Your Grave”). As the Ghost of Christmas Future, Miranda Colin gorgeously sings and dramatically dances over the tombstones in a production number that features cowled monks and somber gravediggers. Raising his beautifully trained voice to the rafters, Mr. Austin delivers the soul-searching “Yesterday, Tomorrow and Today” as he finally recognizes the error of his way. Ebenezer’s redemption on Christmas morning is played out in a  full-company reprise of several songs, ending with the beautiful “God Bless Us Everyone,” and sending the audience home singing these haunting melodies.

Director Jeffrey Cass has had to forego much of his typical thorough and sensitive character development in favor of simple crowd management. Staging this large cast is akin to being an air traffic control artist. The show is far more challenging than most, and demands a large ensemble to play the multitude of different roles. As a result, BrightSide Theatre’s modest playing area often feels crowded, even though Mr. Cass has made wise use of each aisle and every square inch of the thrust stage. There are, indeed, lots of sensitive and beautiful moments in this production, but frequently the show seems busy and a little cluttered. Because so many characters fill the stage, theatergoers may sometimes find it difficult to know where to focus their attention. And while most are talented triple-threats (especially Austin, Rhead, Bollinger, Colin, Ronna and Sonkin, to name a few), the cast includes a couple of actors who, on opening night, seemed to simply be walking through their roles. Possibly this may have been a case of opening night jitters.   

However, despite some minor criticisms, BrightSide, Naperville’s only professional theatre, is presenting a truly delightful holiday show that’s worth seeing. It’s a musical as energetic and entertaining as the Dickens. The show’s strength, aside from telling the classic Christmas story, is Alan Menken’s solid score. His songs will keep the audience tapping their toes and leave them humming as they exit the theatre. From Miranda Colin’s energetic choreography and the lavish backstage orchestral accompaniment, provided by a talented eight-piece band, this hard-working company delivers a festive holiday extravaganza for all ages. Costumed in Shana Hall’s array of colorful, period costumes and supported by Ruby Lowe’s atmospheric lighting design, BrightSide’s sumptuous production is a welcome addition to the menu of holiday treats to be sampled in Chicago.                
Recommended

Reviewed by Colin Douglas

Presented November 29-December 15 by BrightSide Theatre at Meiley-Swallow Hall at North Central College, 31 S. Ellsworth St., Naperville, IL.

Tickets are available in person at the box office, by calling 630-447-8497 or by going to www.brightsidetheatre.com.

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.