A CHRISTMAS CAROL - Preview Thread- Page 3

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 9:56am

Broadway Bob* said: "Reading the comments on this thread are getting me more and more excited to see this Thursday evening. Christmas Carol has always been one of my favorite stories and have obsessively sought out not only the original book, but every film/TV version I could get my hands on. My favorite is the George C. Scott TV version from the 80's.

I am sitting Right Orchestra, B 2. Can someone confirm if this is 1st or second row?!? IS this the seat taboo was referring to?!? Also, any updated word on merch? Thanks!!!"

Indeed it was the seat I was sitting in! Second row, yes. You will have to turn your head at times, but it's worth it in the end.

[Hope Lombardo]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 11:06am

I sort of dragged myself to this show because a friend's adult son is in it...and I felt like I had to, ya know? I hadn't seen the play since high school and I know I didn't like it then so I assumed that I'd feel the same now...but WoW, was I wrong!  First, as others have noted, the staging is wonderful...the actors very strong (Campbell Scott, Brandon Gill, Alex Nee, and Andrea Martin stood out to me but the whole ensemble is quite good) and -- this is on me -- the story is actually quite good!  I must have been a lost soul in high school because it's a story of redemption and second chances...and who doesn't need that. 

 

 

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 11:08am

The cast mingles during the preshow & gives out snacks! So get there early and get some cookies from LaChanze!

[JSquared2]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 11:21am

I saw this last night and what a wonderful, unexpected surprise!  Matthew Warchus' direction is brilliant, and I hope that the show is remembered during awards season.  Anyone who sees this and walks out unhappy is simply dead inside!

[James2]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 12:26pm

I'd been looking forward to this play for weeks, and after seeing it last night I am of two minds about it. As I expected, Matthew Warchus and his Matilda/Groundhog Day design team have created a striking physical and environmental production. What I did not expect were the story deviations Jack Thorne's script has taken. I did find some of them interesting, but I think I'd have to see the play again with the changes already in mind to fully evaluate the play. To others who have seen it, what do you think of changes like these:

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

-Scrooge stayed defiant to the ghosts longer, which made me think his eventual change felt more sudden. (Act One ends with Scrooge yelling into the void, "I am a great man," perhaps in both defiance and delusion.)

-It is now possible for Scrooge to interact with the people in his visions

-Belle's character is expanded, the circumstances of her and Scrooge's split are altered (such that as the Christmas Past section ended I felt it was too sudden and left too much out), and she is one of the people Scrooge visits after his reformation

-The Christmas Future section is vastly different. Though Scrooge initially sees Dickens's phantom, the ghost turns out to be his sister Fan. The vision is largely reduced to Scrooge's death (Tiny Tim's death is moved to the end of the Christmas Present section), and his coffin is visited by Bob, Fred, and Belle. I suppose this is meant to carry on the theme from the Christmas Present section that people do wish well of Scrooge despite his miserly nature.

 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 12:32pm

I do wish they had done this without an intermission as the act break didn't totally work for me. 

[h6p8gv]

Posted: 11/20/19 at 9:08pm

What did they do for the ghost? Did they fly

[Char8]

Posted: 11/22/19 at 10:20am

Has anyone tried for Rush tickets?   For Saturday's, they open at 10am, anyone know what time people line up?   Thanks!!!!

UPDATE from Saturday 11/23/19, 8PM show - my family and I lined up for Rush tickets on Saturday, around 9:25AM.   We were 3rd in line.  We are a family of 5 so we knew we could only buy 2 ticket per person.  Our plan was to buy 2, then 2 and 1.   We never did Rush tickets ever before and thought about just going to TKTS.   But we are SO GLAD we did the Rush tickets.   We got 5 tickets in the Orchestra for 40.00 each.  The seats were amazing!   Our kids sat two rows in front us, three of them.   Then my husband and I sat 2 rows right behind them.   We had center aisle seats too which we loved!   So worth it.  Now keep in mind, the holiday season is just beginning so I imagine after Thanksgiving, this might be a bit harder to get tickets like we did, but we were so blessed and lucky!   The show was awesome and I recommend it!!!!   Happy Holidays to all!  

Updated On: 11/24/19 at 10:20 AM

[thinton]

Posted: 12/1/19 at 12:12pm

Has anyone seen A Christmas Carol from the balcony?  I know its steep, but I'm willing to brave it for the prices, especially in such a small house.  My big worry is that I won't be able to see what's happening on the thrust.  Can anyone share if the view of the thrust is obstructed from the balcony?  Which seats there would be ideal?  

[Wick3]

Posted: 12/1/19 at 2:28pm

Balcony is fine! I don’t want to give spoilers but there are a few points during the play when a few actors are up there.

[UConn]

Posted: 12/2/19 at 4:23pm

Do you think telecharge discount offers will be available for the remaining performances ?  I was looking to go towards end of December .

[AmeliaBedelia]

Posted: 12/13/19 at 1:18pm

Can anyone shed some light on how much of the show I'd miss from the partial-view balcony seats? I've been looking for tickets in my price range all week (rush and TKTS) and all I'm finding is partial view. Wondering if it's worth it to keep trying for full-view seats or if I should take a chance on the partial-view seats. From this thread it sounds like most stuff happens downstage, but is it downstage enough that it wouldn't be visible from the back of the balcony? I'd hate to wait in line for partial-view rush tickets and pay the money only to find I can't see much of the show.

[BentleyB]

Posted: 12/13/19 at 2:31pm

Don’t do a partial view.  The person next to me last night had one.  I felt so sorry for her.  She didn’t see anything center stage or stage right.  She complained at intermission and got the seat switched.  Pay for a great seat.  It is well worth it. 

[AmeliaBedelia]

Posted: 12/13/19 at 7:24pm

BentleyB said: "Don’t do a partial view. The person next to me last night had one. I felt so sorry for her. She didn’t see anything center stage or stage right. She complained at intermission and got the seat switched. Pay for a great seat. It is well worth it."

Thanks! Unfortunately a full-view seat is out of my budget unless one pops up as a rush ticket. At this point I'm just trying to decide if it's worth going to see at all if the only option is partial-view. Was the person next to you with a terrible view sitting in the balcony? Not being able to see one side of the stage sounds to me like she was up close to the stage on the far edges of the orchestra. The box office worker said the partial view balcony seats just couldn't see the thrust but didn't have a good answer for how much of the show happens on the thrust. Can anybody provide an estimate of what percentage of the show takes place on the thrust? 

[VotePeron]

Posted: 12/13/19 at 10:57pm

AmeliaBedelia said: "BentleyB said: "Don’t do a partial view. The person next to me last night had one. I felt so sorry for her. She didn’t see anything center stage or stage right. She complained at intermission and got the seat switched. Pay for a great seat. It is well worth it."

Thanks! Unfortunately a full-view seat is out of my budget unless one pops up as a rush ticket. At this point I'm just trying to decide if it's worth going to see at all if the only option is partial-view. Was the person next to you with a terrible view sittingin the balcony? Not being able to see oneside of the stage sounds to melike she was up close to the stageon the far edges of the orchestra.The box office worker said the partial view balcony seats just couldn't see the thrust but didn't have a good answer for how much of the show happens on the thrust. Can anybody provide an estimate of what percentage of the show takes place on the thrust?"

I don’t understand how someone sitting next to someone couldn’t see the entire stage, but...the entire show takes place on the thrust. 

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 12/13/19 at 11:46pm

I don’t get how there’s any partial view for this?

[Highland Guy]

Posted: 12/14/19 at 10:51pm

A news clip about the two boys who play "Tiny Tim".

 

 

[BentleyB]

Posted: 12/15/19 at 6:48am

SouthernCakes said: "I don’t get how there’s any partial view for this?"

The seat was A21in the Mezz.  I was in 23.  There is lighting cables that run right in front of the seat and most of the action is not in the trust but center stage.  I looked at the view from the seat at intermission and it was indeed blocked. Obviously she was right in that the house manager quickly agreed to put her in another seat. 
 

[scarlet721]

Posted: 12/15/19 at 8:32pm

Please note, there may be spoilers in the paragraphs below. 

1)

I enjoyed this the interaction of the actors with the audience before the lights went down and was hopeful.  I continued enjoying it as the actual show started and musicians took the stage and then the narration began.  I enjoyed the manipulation of set by the company.  But then it started going downhill for me.  Campbell Scott was a bit difficult for me to understand from the mezzanine, and his interaction with Dashiell Evans as Bob Cratchitt and Brandon Gill as Fred just felt off.  And then the "adaptation" started to really kick in and I started getting annoyed by changes to the iconic text.  By the end of Act One, I had passed from annoyance into downright anger.  And as Act Two continued (and the "Ghost of Christmas Future" [Hints of Hadestown's Fates anyone?] and the future itself were revealed), I just sat there stewing. And by the long running "feast" set up and the final resolution I was just disgusted.  As soon as I left the theater I pulled out my iPod and pulled up Tim Curry's version of the audiobook and when I got home, I loaded Patrick Stewart's audio of his one man show into my computer to clear this dark, dreary "interpretation" of a show I love out of my brain.  Call me a purist, but the changes made to the basic story just didn't work for me.  However...

 

2)

Somehow, my sister has managed to never see any version of A Christmas Carol and only knew it as some guy visited by a bunch of Ghosts.  Due to her unfamiliarity with the source material, she didn't have the issues I did, and just accepted this version as it was and therefore she enjoyed it more than I did.

[Daddy Warbucks]

Posted: 12/17/19 at 11:21am

I finally saw this.  I had a hard time believing that I would like it as much as everyone else on the board here has liked it, given how many times I've seen the play through the years in community theatres.  But I was blown away.  It gave me all the feels in all the right moments.  

[mikey2573]

Posted: 12/17/19 at 4:57pm

I have noticed that this show is quite frequently on the boards at TKTS.  Can anyone comment as to what seats they are sending over to the booth?  The website does not show a lot of seats available, but still it is always on the TKTS board.  Are these balcony seats, partial view?  Thanks!

[perfectliar]

Posted: 12/18/19 at 2:44pm

mikey2573 said: "I have noticed that this show is quite frequently on the boards at TKTS. Can anyone comment as to what seats they are sending over to the booth? The website does not show a lot of seats available, but still it is always on the TKTS board. Are these balcony seats, partial view? Thanks!"

I got my seat from TKTS. They had a range from $59-98, which puts seats all over the theatre, from front balcony to orchestra (I went on the Saturday of Thanksgiving weekend). I asked for a ticket in the middle of the price range, and I got one for $81.50 (including the TKTS fee) in the fourth row center mezzanine (full price $159).

[Wick3]

Posted: 12/19/19 at 9:14am

BentleyB said: "SouthernCakes said: "I don’t get how there’s any partial view for this?"

The seat was A21in the Mezz.I was in 23. There is lighting cables that run right in front of the seat and most of the action is not in the trust but center stage. I looked at the view from the seat at intermission and it was indeed blocked. Obviously she was right in that the house manager quickly agreed to put her in another seat.
"

I saw the show last night and from what I saw, I'd say A23 was partial-view and A21 was not partial-view. For some reason A23 was curved a little bit to the end so your main view is one of the speakers and stage left. My 2 cents.

I enjoyed watching this production but I'll admit I read the text back in high school which was roughly 20 years ago and the only movie version I watched was the Muppet Christmas Carol (which I saw back in the early 90s.) Quite refreshing to watch!

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 12/23/19 at 7:57pm

I loved the show on Saturday so so much and I'm glad that I saw it again in the evening beause I caught more. It is much more positive and hopeful than all of the adaptions that I have seen. I really loved the twists and the changes that they made (Spoilers) and they take great liberty in the adaption. But, I thought Act 2 was somewhat clunky with how long the Christmas scene were and then pulling a unneccesary twist to it.

Campbell was a great Scrooge: Defensive, but knows that he is a terrible man. He brought so much humanity in the role. I hope he (along with Warchus' amazing direction) is remembered Tony time. His breakdown at the end of Act 1 was powerful. Like I said in my thread, I saw the show for the two Tiny Tims and it was so so magical to see these boys with the same diagnosis and having the same traits as me. I'll never forget the huge gasp when the audience saw Sebastian (who I saw in the matinee) in the walker. And the two boys were absoutely wonderful with their own Tiny Tims (Sebastian having more of an innocent take and Jai reminding me of Artful Dodger.) I thought it was weird that the two boys were left out in the scenes with the full cast, like the entr'acte and the finale. It was good that they were in the encore, but it's still such a disappointment that it's not full inclusion in the show.  

My thoughts on spoilers on Act 2 and the end of Act 1:

 

Click Here To Toggle Spoiler Content

I didn't know how they can give ACC an Act I ending, but holy crap they did. Unlike the other versions that blamed Tiny Tim’s death on Scrooge with zero explanation, they do here. I sat a bit closer in the evening show, so I heard more and I caught the explanation of the death. I love how it isn't Tiny Tim's disability that kills him, but more of an accident with the pnuemoia while waiting for Bob to come home from work. Watching Tim die was heartwrenching. "O Holy Night" was a powerful touch.

I love how the Ghost of Christmas Future was Scrooge's sister. I also love that her purpose was to show Scrooge that he was loved. The whole scene was hopeful and not "LOL, you're going to hell."

The audience interaction with Scrooge and the dinner was adorable, however I thought it dragged out Act 2 and went way too long. 

 

[mikey2573]

Posted: 12/23/19 at 10:28pm

SPOILERS:
"I love how the Ghost of Christmas Future was Scrooge's sister. I also love that her purpose was to show Scrooge that he was loved. The whole scene was hopeful and not "LOL, you're going to hell."

The point of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is not to scare Scrooge because he is "going to hell".  This ghost shows Scrooge how, after his death, no one really cares.  The ghost shows Scrooge men he knew are could care less that he is gone, one even commenting that he will only attend Scrooge's funeral if a lunch is provided. Another scene shows thieves selling Scrooge's belongings on the black market.  Scrooge is convinced he is seeing reactions to the death of a man who lead a similar life. 

""Spirit," said Scrooge, shuddering from head to foot. "I see, I see. The case of this unhappy man might be my own. My life tends that way, now.""

But is not until Scrooge is brought into a room where a dead man lies beneath a sheet that Scrooge begins to suspect.  Which is why he cannot reveal that dead man's face; he knows it will be his own.  So, when Scrooge finally sees his own name on the gravestone it is not because he has died, or because he is going to hell.  It is because he has died and nobody cares or scarcely notices.  

Of course, none of this happens in this new adaptation