Post by Steve on Dec 17, 2022 14:19:46 GMT
Saw this this morning, and loved the musical numbers, particularly! Dickens crossed with Oliver.
Some spoilers follow. . .
The USP of this version is definitely the Oliver-style musical vibe, with a stage full of impecunious waifs singing about how "everything is crap [in London]" before a time travel, Brechtian style, Cursed Child (the round cinema style projection above the middle of the stage feels very Harry Potter lol) plot twist allows them to learn what can be really special about Christmas, even if you're not well off, through the story of Scrooge.
The music is great, as if Lionel Bart came back to life and composed it (the actual composer is Eamonn O'Dwyer), and although there was about 6 numbers, with an additional two reprises of one number ("Tick Tock"), the songs were such fun that I wished there were even more of them.
The board at the entrance indicated we were getting the "Young Company Blue Cast" today (the 21 kids vastly outnumber the 5 adults, so don't let the cast list of 5 fool you that this is some sparsely staged thing lol).
Of the kids, the kid entrusted with carrying the doubting-Thomas there's-no-way-storytelling-is-gonna-improve-our-lives-one-bit principal framing thrust, Amelie Abbott, was superb, as was the kid playing the young Scrooge, a wounded and resentful Ellie Searle.
The adults were universally effective, with Lizzie Winkler's turn as a Harlequinesque Ghost of Christmas Present particularly delightful. Elexi Walker was effortlessly effusive as the compere of the framing device and story, and she was wonderful talking to kids in the audience in the interval. There was no interaction with adults, thank goodness lol.
I've now seen two excellent versions of Dickens's story this Christmas, the classical storytelling of the SRB Bridge version and the musical mania of this one, and although utterly different, I loved them both. I may give the Old Vic one another turn, if any offers emerge, to complete a trifecta.
4 stars from me for this version, with the singing and dancing being the major charm.
Some spoilers follow. . .
The USP of this version is definitely the Oliver-style musical vibe, with a stage full of impecunious waifs singing about how "everything is crap [in London]" before a time travel, Brechtian style, Cursed Child (the round cinema style projection above the middle of the stage feels very Harry Potter lol) plot twist allows them to learn what can be really special about Christmas, even if you're not well off, through the story of Scrooge.
The music is great, as if Lionel Bart came back to life and composed it (the actual composer is Eamonn O'Dwyer), and although there was about 6 numbers, with an additional two reprises of one number ("Tick Tock"), the songs were such fun that I wished there were even more of them.
The board at the entrance indicated we were getting the "Young Company Blue Cast" today (the 21 kids vastly outnumber the 5 adults, so don't let the cast list of 5 fool you that this is some sparsely staged thing lol).
Of the kids, the kid entrusted with carrying the doubting-Thomas there's-no-way-storytelling-is-gonna-improve-our-lives-one-bit principal framing thrust, Amelie Abbott, was superb, as was the kid playing the young Scrooge, a wounded and resentful Ellie Searle.
The adults were universally effective, with Lizzie Winkler's turn as a Harlequinesque Ghost of Christmas Present particularly delightful. Elexi Walker was effortlessly effusive as the compere of the framing device and story, and she was wonderful talking to kids in the audience in the interval. There was no interaction with adults, thank goodness lol.
I've now seen two excellent versions of Dickens's story this Christmas, the classical storytelling of the SRB Bridge version and the musical mania of this one, and although utterly different, I loved them both. I may give the Old Vic one another turn, if any offers emerge, to complete a trifecta.
4 stars from me for this version, with the singing and dancing being the major charm.
