Stage Review: "A Christmas Carol", Kodak Theater, Dec 27 2008 
Yesterday I attended a performance of "A Christmas Carol" at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood. It starred Christopher Lloyd ("Taxi",
"Back To The Future") as Ebenezer Scrooge, and the cast included Jane Leeves ("Frasier") and John Goodman ("Roseanne"). My wife
and mother-in-law went with me as a gift from ourselves to ourselves.
First, let me say that I rarely venture into the Hollywood area despite being out here in La-La-Land. Hollywood is north of where I live, and my job takes me in the opposite direction. Also, my wife and I are pretty much homebodies when it comes to our spare time. So I was floored when we arrived at the Kodak Theater complex. WOW! It's a full-on shopping/entertainment/dining complex with lots of fancy stores and fine eateries. The theater itself is set far back from Hollywood Blvd, and with good reason - it forces you to walk past the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and the Virgin Records Megastore among other highfalutin' shops.
The theater itself has four levels of seating, so I was expecting it to be a huge, spread-out venue along the lines of the Hollywood Bowl. But the thing that hit me when we walked in was how much smaller it actaully is compared to seeing it on TV during the Oscars show. Nothing at all like I anticipated! We had excellent seats on the first level, nearly halfway between the stage and the back row.
All of the backdrops and stage pieces were fairly simple but featured an appropriate Victorian look and feel. The buildings (Scrooge's office and bedroom, Bob Crachit's and Fred's home) opened up like those Fisher-Price toys I used to have as a kid. What I particularly liked about the backdrops was their watercolor-like texture - they were beautiful on their own, and their design allowed for special lighting effects to shine through from the back to create the appearance of snow falling.
The other special effects were kept to a minimum - fog machines, pre-recorded thunder and lightning, offstage narration. Nevertheless they all added the proper amount of depth and mood to the show. One effect that was to have been used was a holographic image of Gene Wilder as Marley's Ghost, but it was deemed impractical by the producers and an understudy was used to portray the character.
Now, when I first heard about the performance, I thought "THAT'S perfect casting, having Christopher Lloyd play Ebenezer Scrooge". And he delivered with flying colors. He's the kind of great actor that can convey the cold heartlessness and the renewed vigor of the character and make it totally believable. And he looks like how I've always pictured Scrooge (apologies to Alistair Sim and George C. Scott and Albert Finney). John Goodman gave a hefty and hearty performance as the Ghost of Christmas Present, and Jane Leeves made a cute and spirited Mrs. Crachit. Jane Seymour was to have played the Ghost of Christmas Past but bowed out due to bronchitis (I've had it and it ain't fun). All the other players did a great job, and the little boy who played Tiny Tim was so good that a person in the front row asked for his autograph after the show - and he happily obliged.
Even the audience got into the act. When the Ghost of Christmas Present took Scrooge on a walk among "the surplus population", they stepped down off the stage and wandered through the first couple rows of the audience. This gave Christopher Lloyd a chance to do some broad mugging as he stared peculiarly at the faces in the crowd. Then, after Scrooge handsomely paid the young boy and the butcher on Christmas morning, he threw the rest of his coins into the crowd.
I had to remind myself that for some of the kids in the audience, this was the first time they had ever seen any kind of dramatization of "A Christmas Carol". I could tell by the sounds of their gasps and laughs and their reactions that they were into it and sometimes caught off guard. In fact, everyone of all ages was into it. A great show that would be nice to see become an annual holiday performance much like the Radio City Christmas Show.
First, let me say that I rarely venture into the Hollywood area despite being out here in La-La-Land. Hollywood is north of where I live, and my job takes me in the opposite direction. Also, my wife and I are pretty much homebodies when it comes to our spare time. So I was floored when we arrived at the Kodak Theater complex. WOW! It's a full-on shopping/entertainment/dining complex with lots of fancy stores and fine eateries. The theater itself is set far back from Hollywood Blvd, and with good reason - it forces you to walk past the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and the Virgin Records Megastore among other highfalutin' shops.
The theater itself has four levels of seating, so I was expecting it to be a huge, spread-out venue along the lines of the Hollywood Bowl. But the thing that hit me when we walked in was how much smaller it actaully is compared to seeing it on TV during the Oscars show. Nothing at all like I anticipated! We had excellent seats on the first level, nearly halfway between the stage and the back row.
All of the backdrops and stage pieces were fairly simple but featured an appropriate Victorian look and feel. The buildings (Scrooge's office and bedroom, Bob Crachit's and Fred's home) opened up like those Fisher-Price toys I used to have as a kid. What I particularly liked about the backdrops was their watercolor-like texture - they were beautiful on their own, and their design allowed for special lighting effects to shine through from the back to create the appearance of snow falling.
The other special effects were kept to a minimum - fog machines, pre-recorded thunder and lightning, offstage narration. Nevertheless they all added the proper amount of depth and mood to the show. One effect that was to have been used was a holographic image of Gene Wilder as Marley's Ghost, but it was deemed impractical by the producers and an understudy was used to portray the character.
Now, when I first heard about the performance, I thought "THAT'S perfect casting, having Christopher Lloyd play Ebenezer Scrooge". And he delivered with flying colors. He's the kind of great actor that can convey the cold heartlessness and the renewed vigor of the character and make it totally believable. And he looks like how I've always pictured Scrooge (apologies to Alistair Sim and George C. Scott and Albert Finney). John Goodman gave a hefty and hearty performance as the Ghost of Christmas Present, and Jane Leeves made a cute and spirited Mrs. Crachit. Jane Seymour was to have played the Ghost of Christmas Past but bowed out due to bronchitis (I've had it and it ain't fun). All the other players did a great job, and the little boy who played Tiny Tim was so good that a person in the front row asked for his autograph after the show - and he happily obliged.
Even the audience got into the act. When the Ghost of Christmas Present took Scrooge on a walk among "the surplus population", they stepped down off the stage and wandered through the first couple rows of the audience. This gave Christopher Lloyd a chance to do some broad mugging as he stared peculiarly at the faces in the crowd. Then, after Scrooge handsomely paid the young boy and the butcher on Christmas morning, he threw the rest of his coins into the crowd.
I had to remind myself that for some of the kids in the audience, this was the first time they had ever seen any kind of dramatization of "A Christmas Carol". I could tell by the sounds of their gasps and laughs and their reactions that they were into it and sometimes caught off guard. In fact, everyone of all ages was into it. A great show that would be nice to see become an annual holiday performance much like the Radio City Christmas Show.
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