A Quirky Christmas Carol

When I was a teenager, my mom started the tradition of getting tickets to see A Christmas Carol at the Hale Center Theater every December. I love the inspired story by Charles Dickens and never get tired of it's wonderful message. It really brought the Christmas spirit every time I watched it and there's something extra special about seeing it live on stage. This summer, as I visited a new local venue - The Venetian (see link to the title) - I discovered that A Christmas Carol would be performed during December. I decided the girls were now old enough to see a play and the week before Christmas we all attended our first performance together.

We had front row seats, which at first were very intimidating to the girls. Plus, ahead of time, I gave the girls a quick rundown of the storyline. These two factors together proved to be terrifying to Natalie and Angela. A story with ghosts? Right on the front row? It didn't matter how fun I tried to make it sound, they would have nothing to do with it. They hid under their coats on my lap and Kris Kringle's* lap as we waited for the play to begin. I wondered what I had gotten myself into. It was similar to the feeling I had as we got on our first Disneyland ride, Finding Nemo, and Angela screamed bloody murder when they shut the door to the submarine.

But then the play began. And in less than 5 minutes the girls were mesmerized. We all were. This was going to be fun!

I have seen this story performed in play/movie/television formats at least a dozen different ways. It's a simple enough storyline, that everyone can make their own twist on it. The 101 Dalmations, the Muppets, Mickey Mouse, Hale Center Theater, etc. However, I have to say that the Bag and Baggage Company's version (they are the ones who use the Venetian as their venue) has got to be the most clever and most hilarious version I have ever seen. It was phenomenal! The really cool thing about this company is that there are only 3 men and 3 women. You'd think that would make for a dull performance, but the was the artistic director wrote this version of the play, it made it even more charming and entertaining.

His twist on the traditional tale brought Charles Dickens himself in as one of the main characters in the play. Apparently, when Dickens had the inspiration to write A Christmas Carol, he would seclude himself for days, stay up all night and walk the streets of London all hours of the night. Aquaintances said he talked to himself and the characters in his head as the story developed, he was so obsessed. So through much of the play, Dickens plays a narrator of sorts. The other actors/actresses play the characters in his head and have long elaborate conversations and arguments about how the story should be written. It was hilarious and so clever. I laughed so hard I cried more times than I can say and the best part was that the girls understood quite a bit of the humor and were laughing their heads off as well. And because we were sitting in the front row, there were a few fun moments where the actors interacted with us.

The play had just the right balance of hilarity and still retained the powerful and moving parts of the play that are so endearing. When Scrooge realizes what he let go when he chose money and practicality over love. When he finally understand's Bob Crachit's circumstances. When he makes the decision to change his ways. All of these were still powerful and moving performances. The writer knew just when to pull back the reins on the comedy and let the magic of the original story take over. Our entire family had such a wonderful time laughing our heads off and still recite parts from the play that we remember. Like when Bob Crachit is trying to get Scrooge to lighten up and pokes his belly with his fingertip saying, "Boop!" I guess you'd have to be there.

Another wonderful bonus was that one of the actors plays the violin beautifully and they incorporated this talent several times into the story. We even got to sing Christmas carols during a few parts. I can't wait to see it again next year! Bravo! Encore!