Compliments to production personnel who worked long and hard to ensure the cast of more than 80 (including 35 children and eight dancers) filled the Mayfair Theatre’s stage with action, sentiment and excellent singing to re-enact past events in the life of miserly Ebenezer Scrooge (James Adams) through a Christmas Eve nightmare.
The ghost of Jacob Morley, his dead business partner (Alex Lee), Ghosts of Christmas, Past (Ingrid Fomison-Nurse), Present (Nathaniel Otley) and Future (Lois Johnston) presented alarming evidence of his nastiness, until eventually he realised the error of his ways and final happy Christmas scenes saw a new benevolent Scrooge.
Adams excelled in his huge role as humour and sadness tugged at the heartstrings, with poignant scenes, solos, choruses and traditional Christmas music carrying the story, with authentic costuming (Brenda Rendall) taking the audience back in time to face the bleak reality of class distinction and contrast of circumstances in early 19th Century London.
Many highlights and numerous character roles deserve praise. I could fill several columns! The drunken Fezziwigs were very funny; the Cratchit family Christmas dinner cameo with enormous turkey and their emotional graveyard scene featuring Bob Cratchit (Ben Madden) his wife (Goeknil Meryem Biner) and five children in impressive character interpretation and vocals.
What did stand out were strong chorus numbers, including groups of children who knew how to harmonise and project (there were no microphones), and children who played Scrooge as a child (Jesse Hanan), as a young man (Kieran Kelly) and Tiny Tim Cratchit (Joseph Kelly).
Production was by Christine Douglas (Australia), music direction by Timothy Carpenter and Judy Bellingham, choreographer Shona Bennett and production manager Linda Brewster. Authentic instrumental sound from four synthesisers provided unbelievable "orchestral" accompaniment from John Drummond’s arrangement of Norman’s original score.
The season runs till December 4 and the show is excellent pre-Christmas entertainment.
A Christmas Carol
Mayfair Theatre, Saturday, November 26
