Photos by Amy Pasquantonio
By Britin Haller
Coming in with a capital M for Merry is A Christmas Carol: The Musical now playing at the Wick Theatre in Boca Raton. Trust us when we say this recreation of the hit musical of Charles Dickens’ classic tale is the holiday event of the season.
Director Christopher Michaels and Musical Director Bobby Peaco have teamed up to make The Wick’s production a hot ticket.
It’s not a case of if you’ve seen one A Christmas Carol, or you’ve seen them all. Not by a long shot, because this one, created by Broadway icons Alan Menken, Lynn Ahrens, and Mike Ockrent (who also directed the original 1994 Madison Square Garden production), is the one to beat.
For anyone not familiar with the beloved tale (really, you aren’t?), Ebenezer Scrooge is a miserly old man living in Victorian England in the mid-1840s. Scholars claim him to be around sixty, considered old back then because people didn’t live that long, but whatever his age, it’s definitely made clear that Scrooge doesn’t have that much time left to mend his stingy ways, if he’s ever going to do so, that is. Scrooge has a classic case of thinking he can take his money with him.
He just spent the day being awful to everyone he met, including his loyal employee Bob Cratchit who made the mistake of asking off for Christmas Day, and Scrooge heads home to put on his comfy robe and pat himself on the back for a job well done.
But before you can say, “God bless us, everyone!” the energy in the room shifts, and Scrooge’s deceased business partner, Jacob Marley, makes a spooky and fun entrance, along with a warning that before the night is through, Scrooge will be visited by three apparitions, all with a message he’d do well to listen to.
One-by-one, the three spirits, or ghosts as they’re called here, take Scrooge through a series of shock therapy treatments consisting of bizarre and otherworldly adventures designed to scare him straight. Scrooge is shown the errors of his ways.
Good old Ebenezer Scrooge is one of the most widely portrayed literary characters ever, and actor interpretations vary. Chris Edwards has elected to play his Ebenezer on the kinder gentler side, so much so he looks like he’s looking for the early bird special most of the time. But that’s okay that Scrooge is being led around by the nose, because it works.
You’d never know that Edwards was a last minute replacement because his Scrooge is a perfect mix of nastiness, confusion, fear, wonder, awe, understanding, and finally, dare we say it, love.
As Jacob Marley, Larry Buzzeo slithers onto the stage in a spectacular fashion, and it’s all uphill from there. His big number “Link by Link,” with accompanying ghosts who jump rope with their chains and look like they’re on a “Thriller” zombie walk from The Living Dead, must have been Choreographer Ralph Meitzler’s dream job. Love, love, love what Buzzeo does here.
The Ghost of Christmas Past is quietly portrayed by Dru Loman, quietly in regards to the other two ghosts who are yet to come that is, although the biggest extravaganza number of the show falls under his purview when he takes Scrooge back in time to the Fezziwig’s Annual Christmas Ball, also known as the best office party of all time. As Mr. and Mrs. Fezziwig, Troy Stanley and Britte Hammeke (the former Britte Steele, best wishes to the happy couple!) rock it out in Victorian finery and excess (skirt-swishes!) that has to be seen to be appreciated. Both Stanley and Hammeke are favorites of the Wick’s audiences for good reason. It’s never a dull time when these two are around.
As the Ghost of Christmas Present, Daniel Pippert bursts onto the scene looking and sounding so much like the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz that we half-expected him to say “put ‘em up,” and break into the chorus of “If I Were King of the Forest.” He’s big, booming, and ridiculously cheerful, and in his dark-forest green velour fur-lined robe and wreath crown, the resemblance is so strong it feels intentional. Can we take him home?
As the final spectral of Scrooge’s evening, Madeline Dunn as the Ghost of Christmas Future gives us an interpretive pointe ballet (on her toes, people!) that is so delicious it’s worth the price of admission alone. The contrast of her vivid red dress against the darker set gives the whole moment a haunting dreamlike quality that packs an emotional gut punch delivered without a single word spoken. We could watch her all night.
Smaller roles, but important actors, are Cameron Pomeroy as both Scrooge’s nephew Fred and Scrooge’s father (there’s a dichotomy), Elijah Rey and Eli Flynn as the young Ebenezer and Jacob, Caila Katz as Scrooge’s young and beautiful fiancée Emily (Belle in Dickens’ original story) who has had enough of his money-pinching ways, and Brandon Campbell and Samara Shavrick, both recent Carbonell Award nominees, as Mr. and Mrs. Bob Cratchit. We recently enjoyed Shavrick as Paulette in LPAC’s Legally Blonde the Musical. Issa Gonzalez & Arslan Shamsutdinov alternate as Tiny Tim.
Fifteen other local children (in revolving casts) appear on stage at various points with an adult ensemble of eleven, including Eytan Deray whom we adored in LPAC’s South Pacific, Izaiah Scott who wowed us in The Wick’s Bye Bye Birdie, and Brooke DeBeer, the adorable young star of The Wick’s last production of The Fantasticks.
Special effects are a make-it or break-it part of this show because any production of this magnitude requires the technical team to be a well-oiled machine. Watch closely when Marley takes his exit, and Scrooge is left alone in his living room. Ah, the magic of theatre!
At the helm is Production Designer Kimberly Wick who inspired Set Designer Evan Frank and Director Michaels to create hand-moveable sets that thrust us right into the middle of 1840s London. Wick also oversaw those incredible costumes.
Also deserving of special mention are Matthew Guminski whose lighting design invokes shadows to keep Scrooge peering around every corner, and sound design by Justin Thompson that can take us from sheer delight in one second to feeling creepy crawlies on our skin the next. Projection Design by Josieu Jean and Kacey Koploff add to the visceral feel, while the powdered sculpted wigs by Tanner Pippert, especially the Fezziwigs’ wigs (yes, we went there!), conjure up storybook images of yore.
And check out that very cool giant clock hovering over the stage. It’s not just a set piece, it’s practically the stage manager, quietly shifting the scenes and running the show from above as its turning gears remind us that Scrooge’s time is growing ever so short.
One plot hole in the book by Ockrent and Ahrens that’s driving us crazy is if Scrooge and Marley are both young men in the scene where Marley dies, and they are portrayed as such, then how has Jacob only been dead “seven years ago this very night”? And yes, we know it’s all part of a dream sequence and is in keeping canon to Dickens’ tale, but still.
And is it too much to hope that Marley would have gotten his wings like Clarence did in It’s a Wonderful Life?
In the most surreal moment of the show, making us wonder what in the name of Charles Dickens was happening, The Ghost of Christmas Present performs “Abundance and Charity” with dancing food items and Christmas ornaments, leading us to wonder if we’d just stepped into Miss Adelaide’s Hot Box nightclub in Guys and Dolls.
We can’t not talk about the elephant in the room since we’re so confused why this production is marketed by The Wick as A Christmas Carol: The Broadway Musical because this version premiered in 1994, and then played annually in December for 10 years at Madison Square Garden. And the last time we checked Madison Square Garden in not in the Broadway Theater District. If you need further proof it’s not a Broadway musical, this version was not eligible for Tony Awards because, again, not on Broadway. Even Alan Menken’s own website just calls this one A Christmas Carol: The Musical.
Having someone from Broadway create a musical that doesn’t play on Broadway, or using actors who have appeared on Broadway, or having Broadway-level production values does not make that show a “Broadway Musical.” But to be fair, Music Theatre International who maintains the licensing rights, does call it “The Broadway Musical” on their website. Their bad.
To make matters more confusing, The Wick’s website claims the wardrobe we see on stage is the “Original Broadway Wardrobe,” but again, how?
Regardless, to have been a part of that moment in time, when families rushed to buy tickets to see A Christmas Carol at Madison Square Garden, going back December after December, must have been heaven. Actors like Tony Randall (Felix Unger), Hal Linden (Barney Miller), Frank Langella (yes, Dracula himself!), Roger Daltrey (Tommy), Tim Curry (Dr. Frank N. Furter), and Roddy McDowall (Cornelius) in his final theatrical role before he died a year later, all played Scrooge to enthusiastic sold-out crowds.
In the end, A Christmas Carol: The Musical sometimes feels like whiplash, watching Scrooge go from horror, to joy, to horror, to joy again, and even though we know we are being emotionally manipulated, we don’t care. Sign us up for more please. Give us the cheesy over-the-top show tunes, the 1980s rock-concert fog effects, and yes, even Tiny Tim tugging on our every heartstring, because A Christmas Carol: The Musical is warm and familiar, and full of enough childlike marvel to remind us that it’s never too late to open your heart, even if a trio of ghosts has to kick down the door first.
Take a sweater, rather take two and some socks, because the temperature in the theater on the night we went felt like Christmastime in Victorian England. On a related note, if you’ve ever wanted to experience snowfall in South Florida, now’s your chance.
A Christmas Carol: The Musical plays through December 24 at The Wick Theatre & Museum Club 7901 N. Federal Highway, Boca Raton FL; 7:30 p.m. Thurs-Sat; Matiness 2 p.m. Wed, Thurs, Sat & Sun. Running time approx. 120 minutes includes an intermission. Tickets starting at $89. Call 561-995-2333, or visit thewick.org.
Britin Haller is a journalist, editor-for-hire, and an author who serves on the board of directors for the Mystery Writers of America Florida Chapter. As a celebrity wrangler, Brit regularly rubbed elbows with movie stars, sports stars, and rock stars, and as a media escort, she toured with New York Times bestselling authors.
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