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Turns out "A Christmas Carol," after 164 years and innumerable adaptations, can still be funny and touching, especially set to music.
Pittsburgh CLO's "A Musical Christmas Carol" isn't at all what a stressed, holiday-jaded bargain shopper might assume. Sure, little kids in their holiday splendor run amok and there's lots of shushing as the lights go down, but the show is not hokey, worn out or merely for children. It's an entertaining and timeless reminder of holiday spirit.
Audiences are familiar with the "Christmas Carol" plot, of course, although David H. Bell's stage adaptation and director Jason Coll's performers take a few light-hearted liberties. Surely Dickens didn't pen Mr. Fezziwig's nostalgic sigh, "I once knew twins named Holly and Ivy."
The "musical" bit comes in the form of street carolers and Christmas party revelry. Musical director Bruce Barnes chose the carols well. Each seems to emphasize the meaning of the play, and the play, in turn, gives added weight to lyrics so familiar they're easily ignored.
- Where: Pittsburgh CLO at Byham Theater, Downtown.
- When: Through Dec. 23; Fri. 7:30 p.m.; Sat. 12 noon, 4 and 8 p.m.; Sun. 2 and 6 p.m.; also 7:30 p.m. Dec. 20.
- Tickets: $26.50-$42.50 (ages 2-14, half-price); www.pittsburghclo.org or 412-456-6666.
- Local choirs entertain a half-hour before these shows: Dec. 14, Hill Church; Dec. 15, noon, Carrick High School; Dec. 15, 8 p.m., Moniteau Vocal Ensemble; Dec. 16, 2 p.m., CLO Mini Stars; Dec. 20, The Harmonics; Dec. 21, Karns City High School; Dec. 22, 4 p.m., Singing Highlanders.
After Scrooge is returned to his bedroom to await the Ghost of Christmas present, carolers sing, "And in despair I bowed my head, / 'There is no peace on earth,' I said, / 'For hate is strong, and mocks the song / Of peace on earth, good will to men,' " as though addressing the old miser.
While dialogue and music hammer home the ideal meaning of Christmas, the acting makes it entertaining. Tim Hartman's Mr. Fezziwig, Scrooge's kind and slap-happy first boss, bounds about, dancing, singing and barking at Mrs. Fezziwig, played by Terry Wickline, who is also grand as Scrooge's underpaid, bourbon-sipping maid, Mrs. Dilber.
Edmund Lyndeck returns as Ebeneezer Scrooge, having perfected the snap and spite of a hateful, crotchety old coot. He memorably complains, "at my age, hauntings are very hard to bear," and his regret, nostalgia and helplessness in the Christmas Past scenes add emotional clout.
Beth Johnstone Bush, playing Mrs. Cratchit, can make the most skeptical viewer's eyes well with tears as she sews the shirt Tiny Tim will be buried in.
"A Musical Christmas Carol," its lessons still fresh, remains a classic. As grandparents in holiday sweaters and kids in shiny patent leather shoes were leaving a weekend performance, someone was whistling one of the play's parting carols:
"Here we come a-wassailing
Among the leaves so green,
Here we come a'wand'ring
So fair to be seen.
Love and joy come to you
And to you your wassail, too,
And God bless you, and send you
A Happy New Year,
And God send you a Happy New Year."
