I just saw A Christmas Carol last night

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 1/4/09 at 11:43pm

It was at the Kodak Theatre (where they do the Oscars) and the show had a great cast lined up:



But, it was one of the worst productions of anything I've ever seen.

First off, have you ever seen an insert like this:



They only had about 1/3 of the orchestra filled. When the curtain came up at intermission, folks were looking at each other like, WTF?

The sets were interesting, a mix of some new stuff and some drops from another production, but the direction was horrible. The costumes and wigs looked straight out of community theatre and everyone mumbled. I thought, "Maybe you shouldn't get TV actors to do this show on stage.”

Christopher Lloyd played mean well, but there was no change in his character.

Jane Leeves was wasted. I didn't even realize it was her until her second entrance.

John Goodman just looked like he wanted to be ANYWHERE else but on that stage.

There was a sign out front warning the audience of 'Pyro, Strobes, and special effects', none of which were used. unless you consider stage fog something you should warn the audience about. ANd I loved that they had a HUGE thunderstorm at one point...with no lightning. WHA???

No one got entrance applause. It was just pathetic.

Thank God I was comped.

I was told John wanted to leave but they threatened to sue him. Gene Wilder wanted 50 G for his part AS A HOLOGRAM! He didn’t even have to be there.

Actors mumbled though their lines, and there was a voice over that sounded like John Gielgud, but it wasn’t listed in the program.

Has anyone seen an insert that was so ‘legal’.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 1/5/09 at 7:23am

I believe Gielgud did the vo for the Guthrie production. They probably just bought the rights to use that with the money they saved on the hologram/Wilder. Sounds like a train wreck.

[danmag]

Posted: 1/5/09 at 7:27am

A hologram??? Are you kidding me? What does it say about your career when you are appearing (or not, in Wilder's case), as a hologram.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 1/6/09 at 2:41pm

Well, good thing Gielgud's dead. He'd be upset to know he was linked to this pile.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 1/6/09 at 8:02pm

We had tickets for Xmas Eve, but once we heard Jane was out, we didn't go. Plus, the reviews were not good.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 1/6/09 at 10:22pm

I like the Menken/Ahrens version the best. I don't understand why people are still trying to top that.