Review: ‘A Christmas Carol’ at The Little Theatre of Alexandria

Holidays can bring out the blues, but  A Christmas Carol will get you in the Christmas spirit of gratitude and love. The Little Theatre of Alexandria transforms you to the Dickensian time of Victorian London.

The play embraces Dickens’ tale of redemption with authenticity, from its outfits to the accents to the dancing to the colloquialisms to the adaption of Dickens’ book done very well by Michael J. Baker, Jr., Rachael Hubbard, and Eleanore Tapscott.

Cal Whitehurst and the company of A Christmas Carol. Photograph courtesy of The Little Theater of Alexandria.

The expertly directed show, by Eleanor Tapscott, mixes in Dickens’ dialogue. The genuineness of this whole production blew my mind. Linda Wells adapted the music to a Dickens time period masterpiece.

The set, cleverly designed by Matt Liptak, easily transitions from Scrooge’s office, to a house, to the outside, and to Scrooge’s bedroom.

The show encompasses a large and talented cast. Cal Whitehurst as Ebenezer Scrooge nailed it. His palpable despair emanates as he watches his life in various vignettes from past, present to yet to come. When an actor makes the audience feel, a connection has been made. Richard Isaacs as Bob Cratchit, Scrooge’s belabored assistant, and happy family man, plays an excellent protagonist to the miserable Mr. Scrooge.  Thomas Kennedy, who plays Tiny Tim, also does an fine job as a protagonist, which gives Mr. Scrooge a chance to redeem himself by saving Tiny Tim’s life with his generosity.

The younger Ebenzer, played excellently by Nic Barta, demonstrates how Scrooge starts his descent into miserliness.  He goes from being a dashing and caring man to a man caught up in greed that then loses his fiancée.

The Children’s Chorus was a nice addition and their singing blended seamlessly with the adults’ singing. The children added warmness, comedy, and innocence to the production.

Tying the whole production together were the ghosts. Ghost Past, played by Jenna Hoffman, wore a luminescent gown with lights as she waved over the different views of the past. Ghost Present, played by Kevin Broderick was resplendent in his bright green robe as he presided over Mr. Scrooge’s sad present day.

Highly recommend this excellent production of A Christmas Carol. It has something for everyone. It is a show for the whole family.

Running Time: 90 minutes without an intermission.

A Christmas Carol plays through December 16, 2017, at The Little Theatre of Alexandria – 600 Wolfe Street, in Alexandria, VA. For tickets, call 703-683-0496, or purchase them online.

2 COMMENTS

  1. This show was one of the Alexandria’s Little Theatre’s best, and this review was spot on — brilliantly synopsizes the successful production and casting. (I would only nit-pick one item: The children added “warmth” rather than “warmness” to the production.

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