A Christmas Carol – The Broadway Musical

It is always nice to see a Christmas Show rather than a Pantomime at Christmas, so as soon as I received the invitation for A Christmas Carol, I was excited to see what CTC could do with it. I was not disappointed as this was a true Christmas tale told well. The full company managed to capture the essence of this Dickensian show. Not only through their high standard of acting, and singing but also through the excellent costumes, make up, and a set which allowed the show to flow and maintain good pace.

If there is one character on which the whole story hinges it is that of Ebenezer Scrooge. This was played by Matt Gilchrist and how well he did, strong acting and vocals combined with a clever characterisation (as he transformed during his three visits) made this a very believable Scrooge.

Jacob Marley (Ben Kearney) dressed as you would expect someone who had been dead for some time! Treated us to spookily good singing and acting during his number Link by Link (ably supported by the ghosts). It is a shame that he appears so briefly.

At this point in the show we are introduced to the three ghosts who all gave us very spirited performances. Mariam Pope, as “The Ghost of Christmas Past” gave us a very strong vocals in “the lights of long ago” and although she was not dressed as you would expect, it made her no less credible.

Charlie Leggett, as “The Ghost of Christmas Present”, always a pleasure to watch him displaying the many skills he has developed, with CTC, to give us this larger than life character.,

Leah Head as “The Ghost of Christmas Future” who would normally only walk and point more than capably joined in with “Dancing on your grave”.

The Cratchit family led by father, Bob (Cameron Collins) gave us a warm family loving man and Tiny Tim (Lloyd Sayles), Mrs Cratchit (Beth Shave) and Martha Cratchit (Anna Kitching) completed the group making the whole family a reflection of their Father. Proving you can be poor and happy.

A highlight for me was the Fezziwig Party. The sheer energy and exuberance of the whole company making it a scene to make you smile from inside to out.

The production team had, as always, put in some hard work and yet again it was shown by the strong choreography, the excellent singing and music, and the clever little touches that set these shows apart, made this a truly great evening.

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