By Jamie Grant
A huge dose of lovely Christmas Spirit is what we received at CenterPoint Legacy Theater in Centerville. It was my first time attending a performance at CenterPoint Legacy Theater and A Christmas Carol, The Musical, based on the popular Christmas story by Charles Dickens, was a fabulous first time experience. My eleven-year-old daughter accompanied me as a mother-daughter date, and we were looking forward to getting into the Christmas Spirit with this family friendly performance.
Upon our arrival at the theater we picked up our tickets then walked around the lobby viewing the colorful photos taken of the performers we were about to see. A grand piano sits in the foyer with someone playing Christmas songs creating a warm Christmas mood, while we waited to enter the theater. The seats are comfortable with more leg room than I am used to.
An announcement is made that the show is about to begin followed by a flicker of the theater lights. The red velvet grand drapes rise upward slowly to display London. No detail is left out in this set design by Executive Producer/Set Designer Scott Van Dyke. The town is multilevel with several lit balconies where actors could be viewed participating in the scenes. The backdrop has a clock that glows to display the important hours specifically noted in the dialogue of the play. I also noticed that the street lights on the set could magically be lit with a lighting stick of the time period. Excellent detail in the sets overall.
Nick Cash is Ebenezer Scrooge, the cranky, apathetic, greedy old miser who has allowed the negative events of his past take over his attitude in the present. The town is full of life and happiness, laughter and love and all people he comes in contact with try to share this joy with Ebenezer. Cash owns this role and we adored his portrayal of this popular characters. He repeatedly refuses to participate in the cheerfulness and declares “Bah Humbug” to all things Christmas. He goes home to bed only to be awakened by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley (Jim Dale). In this scene, my daughter was very excited to see the zombie-like spirits that entered the scene from behind us in the foyer down the aisles in their song and dance. It added an audience participation kind of feel. Scary, too! Jacob has a very important message for Ebenezer. To paraphrase that message, you’d better loosen up and be more positive about life or you will end up dead and forgotten like me. Ebenezer is rightfully afraid of Jacob’s ghost. Dale is delightfully spooky.
Ebenezer is told he will be visited by three spirits at 1:00 AM, 2:00 AM, and 3:00 AM. As told the spirits all come to visit him. The ghost of Christmas Past (Rich Adams) is dressed in all white. He tells him, “to understand the present, you must learn from the past.” Ebenezer being the stubborn man he is, replies with, “the past is the past and the good things never last.” The first spirit has not convinced him. Adams is delightful in this role, and plays it with confidence.
The spirit of the Present (Jason Wadsworth) delighted both my daughter and me—he was our favorite spirit. Dressed in a long red and gold robe with what looked like a Christmas wreath on top of his head, we give kudos to Costumer Katie Rogel, he swung straight into to the audience as he belted out his song to Ebenezer. These lively scenes were a joy as all onstage sang and tap danced about abundance, charity, and good will toward men. Choreographer Jessica Merrill gets the cast moving in these scenes especially and we loved it. The scene made me feel alive and happy. This spirit of the present teaches that you can have nothing and yet so much to share.
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Finally, the Spirit of Christmas Future comes to visit and doesn’t speak to Ebenezer at all but shows him the people who actually loved him and tried to be kind and include him. Ebenezer also sees how his apathy has caused the death of Tiny Tim (Colby Thornton), the son of his employee, Bob Cratchit. Ebenezer has a change of heart and almost frantically shares his fortune, and kindness is given all around. Christmas is something to be shared and treasured.
It was obvious that the entire cast of this production (which included several children) were all incredibly talented and dedicated people. The music and movement of each scene seemed to be effortless, which is how I know they worked hard to perfect it. The acting and singing are fabulous and I loved the new (to me) take on a classic tale. I noticed a bit of an echo in their sound system but it seems they corrected it as soon as it occured. Overall, CenterPoint Legacy Theater’s A Christmas Carol—the Musical was great experience for my daughter and I. I am excited to see their next production—I will definitely be back.
CenterPoint Legacy Theatre presents A Christmas Carol by Mike Ockrent, Lynn Ahrens, and Alan Menken
Centerpoint Legacy Theatre 525 N 400 W, Centerville, UT 84014
November 24- December 23, 7:30 PM; Matinee on Saturdays 2:30 PM
Tickets: $17.50-$25.50
Box Office: 801-298-1302
CenterPoint Legacy Theatre Facebook Page
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