A Review of Charles Dickens’
A Christmas Carol,
Onstage Now through December 22
at Players Ring in Portsmouth
Think about it. More than 400 shows since 1981 — not just around New England, but around the country. A mind-blowing, multi-layered resume, revealing experience multi-fathoms-deep in pretty much every phase of professional theatre, including less obvious ones that even I, as a decades-long theatre enthusiast and practitioner, didn’t even know existed.
That’s the Michael J. Tobin that I and countless theatre pros, onstage and offstage, from Sea to Shining Sea in the Land of Lincoln, know. And just in case you didn’t know this, Tobin is also the Executive Artistic Director of Footlights Theatre in Falmouth, Maine, now fast approaching its 11th season as a highly successful operation.
But right here, now, I need to say that this man of such vast theatrical experience — this crackerjack Plier of the Boards — is the best reason of all for you to hurry on down to Portsmouth over the Holiday Season and see him playing Ebenezer Scrooge to melodic, harmonic, and comedic perfection, all in his very own heartwarming, skillfully written adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, onstage now through December 22 at Players Ring.
With adjustments and enrichments made along the way, this production happens also to have been the very first production mounted, 30 years ago, at Players Ring. And with — who else? — Michael J. Tobin in the role of Scrooge.
Watching someone so completely in control of his craft, and so remarkably fearless as he performs his magic at breakneck speed, dropping nary a beat in performance, is a special joy that no one who genuinely loves the fine and performing arts should miss.
Well, now: after that intro — whew! — it’s tempting to think, “End of Story.” I mean, what more can there be left to say?
Plenty, of course. Because it’s not the end, not by a long shot! Anyone who knows Tobin and has seen him onstage knows he’s an absolute human dynamo as a performer — a man with Robin Williams energy and Jack Nicholson emotional range — and with a whole lot more gas left in his theatrical tank than even he might believe.
But putting Tobin aside for a moment — not an easy thing to do, if you’ve seen him in action; his stage chops are absolutely formidable — he most certainly is not the only reason you’ll be more than glad you saw this production.
After all, A Christmas Carol is a beautiful story with a timeless message woven deeply into it. Seeing yet another performance of this Holiday Workhorse — and most of us have stopped counting the ones we’ve already seen — becomes yet another golden opportunity to see just what a band of serious, hard-working stage creatives can do to bring an exhausted, over-produced, and yet universally beloved play back to life once again, rescuing yet another American theater from financial ruin.
I can’t help wondering if Charlie D. ever imagined how many of America’s play companies would eventually find out — the hard way — that without that grumpy old misanthrope Ebenezer Scrooge waiting in the wings each year, ready, willing, and able to help keep the theater’s ship above water again, they would never have made it back into harbor for another season.
Now, I need to assure you that, as with all theatrical performances, there really are other actors in this Players Ring production who richly deserve to be singled out for praise. Of course, the entire ensemble in this show deserves applause — perhaps especially for its combined willingness to work onstage with someone as seasoned, gifted, and in command as Tobin — a circumstance which, I happen to know from personal experience, can be remarkably intimidating.
The point I’m driving at, here, is that while Tobin’s finely honed skills hold this performance together — indeed, they’re the heart, the soul, and the very skeleton of the Ring’s production of A Christmas Carol — Tobin himself knows, ever so well, that without the critically important skills of the actors around him — and indeed the many off-stage laborers who make essential contributions to any show — people like him would never fully succeed on stage.
Take, for instance, Ralph Wark in the roles of Bob Cratchet and Mr. Pickwick. Wark was convincing at every turn in his onstage portrayals, including the difficult moment when, as Tiny Tim’s loving, financially strapped father, he must cry, openly and protractedly, on stage. A lot of actors fail to do so with any credibility, but Wark succeeded, well beyond the usual, in what is known within the theatre community to be one of the harder things any actor has to do onstage.
Or Corrie Owens-Beauchesne in the roles of Charity Woman, Caroline, Belle, Fred (Scrooge’s nephew), Jane (Fred’s Wife), and Mrs. Dilber (Scrooge’s maid). In each and every one of her many demanding roles, she shone with a radiance and command of gestures that stood up admirably well against any of Michael Tobin’s more magical moments in the role of Scrooge. Not an easy assignment, but by God, she did it!
Or Lulu Richmond in the coveted role of Tiny Tim. Ms. Richmond, who’s 11 years old and a fifth-grader at Little Harbor School in Portsmouth, charmed the sox off of everyone in attendance with her skilled, heart-rending characterization of a child in danger of dying who — thanks, ironically, to Scrooge himself — manages finally to avoid an all-too-early demise. In real life, when not reading, journaling, participating in sports or playing trumpet in her school band, Richmond is compiling an impressive list of onstage credits, including roles with Upside Arts and Seacoast Repertory Theater’s PAPA.
Now, the Costuming: it was pretty much consistently effective in this production, with reasonably appropriate, period-proper shoes on the well-turned, over-worked feet of every actor. Tobin, who — Holy Cow! — also directed this production! — is to be applauded for getting this done right; many companies don’t. No sneakers or flip-flops in this show!
The costume for Tiny Tim is beautifully sewn and tailored — and Lulu Richmond wears it beautifully — but at times it comes across as just a little too pristine for a young, “poorly dressed” child in a poverty-stricken family. I suggest that a little dust in strategic places — especially on the top of her cap, which looks too good to be true — would make her costume a little more appropriate — more convincing — for that of a child from the down-and-out, dirt-poor citizenry of Dickensian London.
As one has every right to expect, the costumes for the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Yet to Come were done admirably well. But what a horrible Scrooge I would be if I were to describe them in detail to you in this review!
So sorry, folks: To see those gorgeous costumes, you’ll have to come and see Tobin’s show. And I promise you, you won’t be disappointed, because the duds for these three dudes — every one of them — were a delight to behold!
And the Set Design: Not quite as snappy, on first viewing, as I’m accustomed to seeing in Tobin’s Footlights Theatre productions up in Falmouth. The upstage panorama for this show was a little too sleepy, even for a play about a penny-pinching old man in long-ago, dark-and-dusty London. A few well-chosen, pointillistic visual elements — or perhaps some all-around, low-glow lighting across the back wall — would most likely enliven that all-important part of the set.
Also, the Counting House desk in the opening scene of the play is an unfortunate hodge-podge of incongruous, mis-matched woods — a situation that draws attention away from Scrooge himself, not to mention the overall aesthetic “punch” of the set on first viewing.
And finally, the Music: Michael Tobin has always demonstrated a gift for choosing just the right incidental music for his plays, and that of A Christmas Carol at Players Ring is no exception. However, the recorded music played before the show starts — and at intermission, too — fails rather miserably to compare favorably to the incidental music of the show itself. No matter how beloved and beautifully written a Christmas carol might be, if it’s poorly arranged and drones on like a malfunctioning hurdy-gurdy, it’s a distraction, not an enrichment.
— Review by Ross Alan Bachelder of www.artsaplenty.me
Charles Dickens’ beloved Holiday tale, A Christmas Carol — adapted by, directed by, and featuring Michael J. Tobin in the role of Ebenezer Scrooge — will be at Players Ring, on Prescott Park in Portsmouth, now through December 22. For show times, tickets and directions, call 603-436-8123 or go to www.playersring.org.