Put Rodgers' 'Carol' on must-see list

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Nov 30, 2004 by Ivan M. Lincoln Deseret Morning News

MADISON SQUARE GARDEN'S A CHRISTMAS CAROL, Rodgers Memorial Theatre, Centerville, through Dec. 23 (298-1302). Running time: one hour, 35 minutes (one intermission).

CENTERVILLE -- Rather than staging just one more retread of this popular Charles Dickens classic, the Rodgers Memorial Theatre -- after a five-year absence -- has once again obtained the rights to what was originally produced as the "Madison Square Garden Christmas Carol."

If you caught the made-for-TV version on Sunday night starring Kelsey Grammer, this is, basically, the same show (minus commercials), with sprightly music by Alan Menken, savvy lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and a well-written script by collaborators Ahrens and the late Mike Ockrent.

RMT's live, staged version, featuring James Christian's fast- paced direction and energetic choreography, definitely belongs at the top of your not-to-be-missed list.

The show's original collaborators have added some playful touches to the story. Some productions of "A Christmas Carol" have scenes that are dragged out far too long, but not this one. It clips right along but still manages to focus on skinflint Ebenezer Scrooge's redemption.

Scott Morgan, who has understudied the same role at Hale Centre Theatre for the past seven years, plays Scrooge on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays (alternating with Dave Hill). Morgan is perfectly cast as the curmudgeon who has a miraculous change of heart. This production may not be as intense as the Hale's more dramatic version, but Scrooge's metamorphisis is still moving.

The ghosts of Christmases past, present and future are all played by characters that Scrooge glimpses briefly during earlier scenes and who subtly allude to confronting him in the not-too-distant future.

The Ghost of Christmas Past (Jonathan Crittenden) is depicted as a vaudevillian song-and-dance man, and the Ghost of Christmas Present (Jared Allen) prods Scrooge into sharing a music-hall stage with a chorus line of tap-dancing Abundance Girls.

The Ghost of Christmas Future (April Henderson), who first approaches Scrooge during Act 1 as a blind woman, steers him into a cemetery, where monks and grave diggers shuffle (or shovel) their way through "Dancing on Your Grave" -- just one of the show's many musical highlights.

Tunes vary from the exuberant "Fezziwig Annual Christmas Ball" to such tender ballads as "The Lights of Long Ago," "A Place Called Home" and "Christmas Together." Robert Gilmore is a delightful Tiny Tim, with Lee Wright as his ever-hopeful father, Bob Cratchit.

Musical direction by Maurie Tarbox, costumes by Jennifer Davies and scenery by Aaron Bushnell add professional-level touches.

There were some lighting problems early in the opening-night performance and a couple the microphones malfunctioned, but these are things that should be fixed by now.

E-mail: ivan@desnews.com