A Christmas Carol: The Musical Reviews

This made-for-TV musical version of Dickens’ holiday classic, taken from a long-running New York stage attraction, is splashy and family-friendly. Nineteenth- century skinflint Ebenezer Scrooge (Kelsey Grammer) refuses to celebrate the holidays with his nephew, Fred (Julian Ovenden); his one yuletide wish is a good night's sleep in his drafty mansion. But alas, he's plagued by apparitions, starting with the ghost of his late partner, Jacob Marley (Jason Alexander). After rattling his ghostly chains, Marley urges Scrooge to adopt the Christmas spirit of giving, lest he regret his stinginess when it's too late. To clarify the perils of penury, Marley promises Scrooge visits from three guests: The Ghost of Christmas Past (Jane Krakowski), Christmas Present (Jesse L. Martin) and Christmas Future (Geraldine Chaplin). Scarred irreparably by his father's stint in debtor's prison, Scrooge resists the sad visions shown him by the Ghost of Christmas Past, which includes the memory of his fiancee, tired of Scrooge's money-grubbing, breaking off their engagement. The Ghost of Christmas Present introduces Scrooge to the poverty-stricken London he's chosen to ignore: Scrroge is forced to watch his loyal employee, Bob Cratchit (Edward Gower), prepare for a meager yuletide dinner with his family, including the sickly child, Tiny Tim (Jacob Moriarty), whose care has so strained the Cratchits' resources. If their plight begins to melt Scrooge's heart, the vision of his own lonely and unmourned death really turns up the heat. Realizing he's been hoarding material things and starving his soul, Scrooge finally heeds Marley's warning: He visits Fred, bestows good tidings on Cratchit's family, strikes the words, "Christmas, Bah! Humbug!" from his vocabulary and finds joy in the season. While many CHRISTMAS CAROL connoisseurs save their highest praise for the animated MR. MAGOO'S CHRISTMAS CAROL (1962), this version has its finger-snapping moments. If only director Arthur Allan Seidelman had a better sense of how to frame choreography for the camera!