Tuesday, December 08, 2020
Bah, Pandemic! How Theaters Are Saving ‘A Christmas Carol’
The New York Times: For all his flaws, that cranky old miser Ebenezer Scrooge has been a godsend for American theaters. Through recessions and blizzards and other upheavals, he has drawn small children and big money to his redemption story in “A Christmas Carol.”
Stage adaptations of the tale, which generally run between Thanksgiving and year-end, have been a tradition and a lifeline for troupes big and small, professional and amateur. But now, after decades in which the Dickens classic has sustained them, this year theaters are sustaining Dickens.
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Christmas Carol belongs up there with the Nutcracker. Maybe it’s time we actually reexamine our holiday shows. Aside from that, I begin to wonder at what point do we sacrifice artistry for online audiences. The more we do online streaming productions the more people are going to want it post pandemic. We’ve already seen it begun with major motion pictures. Recently a large movie studio stated that all of their 2020 films will hit streaming at the same time that they go into theatres and while people are going to run into the streets and dance once this pandemic is behind us, that does not mean they will want to return to packed theatres right away. Theatre is live for a reason. I enjoy watching the online recordings of shows that have closed and that I missed or that were limited engagements, but I also love live theatre. With Christmas Carol, the Nutcracker, and others, we really should take a step back and ask what sacrifice are we making by making a streaming production? And is that sacrifice our audience?
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