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Having a vision of the way ahead is
fundamental.
– Deborah Warner
The director who cannot collaborate
with his (or her!) actors has mistaken his (or her) vocation.
– Harley Granville-Barker
Young directors simply must from time
to time be hired by a theatrical institution, if only to correct
its inevitable tendency to fossilize.
– Tyrone Guthrie
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A Christmas Carol, A Musical Ghost
Story
Adapted by Jon Kimbell from Charles Dickens
Overview
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The Cratchit Family
Photo by Paul Lyden |
In
September 2006, Jon Kimbell approached me about co-directing A
Christmas Carol with him at North
Shore Music Theater this season.
North Shore has been producing Carol for
the past 18 seasons, and Jon felt that the production had gotten
both a bit stale and a bit adrift from the story, that some musical
numbers and ad-libs had been added to the production - by different
directors over the years - that had very little to do with the story
Charles Dickens wrote. Jon said there was too much frosting on the
story; he asked me to help scrape it off.
We had an invigorating collaboration, which quickly
came to involve music director Brian Cimmet and choreographer Kathy
Meyer: I proposed a major overhaul of the production script, which
involved stripping away some numbers, replacing others and re-embracing
Dickens' story. We redesigned and rethought the conception of the
Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come and much of the storytelling of the
'Future' sequence. We pared down the layers of framing around the
central story of the redemption of Ebenezer Scrooge. I challenged
my collaborators to 'earn' each production number in the show, to
make the singing & dancing
an integral part of the production, instead of frosting on a Christmas
cookie. Brian Cimmet worked to reorchestrate and to compose new music
where the play demanded it.
This work continued right through our technical rehearsals. It has
been thrilling for me to perform as both a director and a dramaturg
on my first professional musical production. In a very real way, while
this production is 18 years old, it is also, this season, brand new.
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Teri Dale Hansen as
The Ghost of Christmas Past
Photo by Paul Lyden |
Richard Gallagher as
The Ghost of Christmas Future
Photo by Paul Lyden |
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Reviews
Boston Herald:
"Finding a way into Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas
Carol isn't easy. Audiences
have expectations, especially when a theater company such as North Shore Music
Theatre has been delivering eye-popping holiday productions for 18 years. . .
. This year, NSMT artistic director Jon Kimbell went back to some basics in the
adaptation he wrote with David James and David Zoffoli. The result, directed
by Kathleen Powers, leans heavily on Dickens' lyrical prose and the darker tones
of the tale, but balances the storytelling with special effects that will have
audiences gasping. . . . North Shore's production of A Christmas
Carol gooses
the familiar classic with a few original twists, giving this family favorite
a fresh new look."
The Beverly Citizen:
"This edition of A Christmas Carol needs no charity. It deserves good reviews
all on its own. [Kimbell & Powers] have renovated and restored the
real Christmas Carol. They have pealed off the vinyl siding added over
the years. And they have revealed the bones of a beautiful Victorian, with
its turrets, plinth blocks and stained-glass windows intact."
Community Newspaper Company:
"Somehow the central message of Charles Dickens' classic novel A
Christmas Carol never gets old. Its uplifting message of spiritual redemption and the joys
of Christmas is beautifully conveyed by this year's intelligent production at
North Shore Music Theater. . . . [Powers'] vision concentrates less on showy
effects - although there is certainly plenty to please the eye in this production
- and more on the timeless truths of these characters and this delightful story."
The Spectrum:
"Practice makes perfect. Sometimes going back to an original concept
does too. This year, Kathleen Powers has taken the helm . . . carefully
reduced some of the extras added to A Christmas Carol
- A Musical Ghost Story in recent years, but retained some old
favorites. All in all the production
emphasizes the humanity of the people in Dickens's story and gets the audience
singing along with the curtain call's 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas.'"
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