A Christmas Carol

This was a new musical production of the timeless Dicken’s novel. The clock chiming at the start and the opening music provided a sense of anticipation for what was to follow. The lovely rich colours of the costumes contributed to the feeling of hope and happiness for the festive season which even Scrooge’s “Christmas is humbug” could not subdue. The action gained pace as Scrooge is visited by the three ghosts. Megan Lang (The Ghost of Christmas Past) with her beautiful voice and clear diction sings “The Lights of Long Ago”, and shows Scrooge scenes from his childhood. Alex Hillman is charming as the Young Scrooge. However, for me, the scenes with Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Present were the most memorable. Matt Sackman (The Ghost of Christmas Present) had great personality and his performance lit up the stage. I loved the sheer exuberance of his tap dance as Scrooge is offered the delights of a Christmas feast. Paul Tully (Scrooge) commanded the stage with his glorious ringing baritone, although he had a tendency in his dialogue to drop his voice at the end of phrases so that some of his words were lost. The children in this show, Declan Murphy, Joe Curtis, Kharmen Ford, were extremely talented, especially Eddie Manning who, as Tiny Tim, never dropped out of character and even remembered his disability when getting into bed! His scenes with the Cratchitt family were very emotive. Top marks to the stage crew whose swift scene changes meant that there were no pauses in the action thus maintaining the tension and atmosphere throughout the show. However, at times their visibility was distracting. The orchestra, although slick, were a little too loud and the chorus numbers were disappointing. It is a shame that the four-part singing during the show was not as impressive as when the cast stood still and sang “Bless Us Everyone” as an encore. Nevertheless, it was a festive occasion.

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