Sunday, November 25, 2007
East stage preview: Group interprets Dickens' Christmas classic for families
Post Gazette: "Charles Dickens' beloved holiday ghost story seems to be everywhere this time of year. But the musical production of 'A Christmas Carol' that will be playing at the Palace Theatre, Greensburg, at 10 a.m. Friday is especially for families with young children."
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6 comments:
It's surprising to note how different the interpretations of "A Christmas Carol" have been in the past. For instance, look at the the film "Scrooge" with Bill Murray and then look at say, "A muppet Christmas carol". Where in some cases, changing a play from dark to light may seem drastic, I think that this adaptation will work quite seamlessly.
this does not seems like a very good idea to me. the whole point of a christmas carol is that a man has no compassion and that he learns through the spirit of chistmas to be a nice and loving man. if you soften up the character, than that change will not be seen and nothing will be learned. lack of compassion and scrooge-ness is meant to be scare little kids. don't mess with that.
This is typical education theatre for kids. And the company is using a couple of methods to attract the young audience, such as game, puzzle and Santa Claus. For some actors, they need to plays "at least" 2 parts. They would be very busy with costume change and absolutely tired. However, for touring, less actors would decrease lots of money.
I agree with Anthony. Although I don't want then to lighten up the story too much becuase than it might not appeal to the adults in the family as much. However, there is a huge chance to impact a large audience and to draw them in early so that they can then moreo n to read and see other interpretations and presentations of a christmas carol for a more mature audience.
and a muppet christmas carol is genius. pure gene.
Amazing how year after year the holiday cash cows never cease to be successful – you think people would tire of hearing how wonderful life is, stories of Christmas, or the message behind Christmas carols. I guess they are the kind of show you just have to see at least once... While it’s nice to make shows children-friendly, the “scariest” parts of the story are usually the coolest to see on stage. I’m not sure how much more tame the production needs to be to be children friendly. Nice to see a quote from the stage manager – though the average theatergoer probably has no idea what she actually does. Due to the double-casting, I’m sure there are some fantastic quick changes, though.
I'm not really a fan of adaptations of classic stories. This is especially true with a classic story like "A Christmas Carol" that is so ingrained in to the minds of people. It's a story that I really can't see getting any better than the classic that I grew up with. We have known the story for so long because it is a classic story with classic themes that still hit home today.
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