God bless them, every one!
In my many years of covering the arts, on Monday I experienced a first. The opening night of A Christmas Carol (Dominion Theatre), which basically means the press are there to review the show (it opened for previews on 7 December) was also the last performance. The show “opened and closed” on the same day following Health Secretary Matt Hancock’s earlier decision that day to place London into Tier 3. One of the consequences of that decision being the immediate closure of all theatres. Just what would the company of that show be going through and how might it affect their performance. The ultimate story of redemption brought out the very best in them and their energy and conviction to what had now become a lost cause was a thing of courage and absolute pleasure.
The show is described as a musical staged concert but it far exceeds all expectations as a cast of fifty and the twenty musicians of the London Musical Theatre Orchestra, led by their maestro Freddie Tapner, offer up a feast of festive entertainment. This is as close as you can get to a full scale production in these strict socially distanced times. Even the buoyant choreography, highlighted during Mr Fezziwig’s exuberant ball, had to be Covid approved, which has now come to mean so many things, leading to director Shaun Kerrison throwing off the chains of restriction. An alien on a fleeting visit to our virus ravaged planet would never have believed we were in the midst of a pandemic.
The curmudgeonly Ebenezer Scrooge’s initial “Bah Humbug!” approach to Christmas comes full circle after visitations from three spirits and he then proclaims, in fits of hysterical laughter and unusual paroxysms, that “I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.” Amen to that and if truth be told Dickens’ novella, written in the mid-nineteenth century, still has themes that are uncannily relevant to us now. Rarely have we thought so much about the simple joy that we cherish with families and friends being in the same room together. This production gives us dollops of that joy and the emotion of the evening was all encompassing as an enormously enthusiastic audience took every opportunity to clap and cheer beginning with an animated response to the pre-show tannoy announcement simply saying “Welcome back.” Whoops, cheers and exclamations of ecstasy. All this in stark contrast to the theatre staff who were doing their jobs as a needs must scenario having been made redundant or prevented from doing what they normally do, several being actors, directors and producers.
I would love to have told you at this point that you should definitely see this immensely enjoyable show. Alan Menken’s music is a masterful composition capturing the essence of the sadness and the redemptive triumph in this quintessential Christmas tale. The whole company of performers and musicians deliver a musical staged concert plus plus plus which makes it a must see. But alas you can not. Brian Conley who plays Scrooge is not a natural singer but he makes up for that with a portrayal that takes us to the heart of the hard-hearted man in need of love. In the singing stakes the standouts are Lucie Jones as a teasing Ghost of Christmas Past, Cedric Neal as a camper than Christmas Ghost of Christmas Present and Sandra Marvin who excels as both Mrs Mops and Mrs Fezziwig.
When the very cute Tiny Tim, all the child performers are terrific, ends the show with the memorable line “God bless us, every one!”, there was a feeling amongst us that never have those words been more poignant, for people of all faiths and none. As he did I couldn’t help thinking that we should be thanking all those involved in making this unforgettable evening possible by saying “God bless them, every one!”
Theatre Reviews
Barney Efthimiou
