Review of A Christmas Carol The Musical at Lost Theatre

A Christmas Carol - The Musical (c) LOST Theatre — A Christmas Carol – The Musical
(c) LOST Theatre

There is much to commend The Lost Theatre’s production of this particular version of the Charles Dickins Christmas classic. This legendary version of A Christmas Carol is a musical, written by the award-winning Alan Menken, who is presently wowing the West End with Aladdin. The lyrics were penned by the legendary Lynn Ahrens and choreography by Susan Stroman.

The show itself was originally staged on a massive scale in New York City at the Paramount Theatre in Maddison Square Garden. For a decade it was a NYC tradition and ran every year from December 1st to 27th December between the years 1994 to 2003.

The role of Scrooge being played during this time by a who’s who of stars such as Tony Randall, Roddy McDowall, F. Murray Abraham, Tony Roberts, Tim Curry, Roger Daltrey, Frank Langella, Hall Linden and Jim Dale!

A Christmas Carol - The Musical — A Christmas Carol – The Musical
(c) LOST Theatre

To their credit, The Lost Theatre Company did not seem daunted by the show’s credentials and the lofty names associated with it. The company transformed the space beautifully with projections, lighting, set and costumes and a truly game cast of over 20 actors, singers, and dancers of all ages met and embraced the challenges of the script, music, and choreography and gave a good account of themselves.

I have seen a number of productions at The Lost Theatre and in my view this was definitely the most enjoyable! The only thing that could have been better in the first half was the sound. It was slightly out of balance and tended to drown out the singing at times. However, this was addressed during the interval.

In a show of so many great moments – I must single out for mention the production number ‘ Link by Link’ with Jacob Marley and his dancing ghosts (Marley is played by the talented Richard Lounds – I am sure we will be seeing more of him in the future ).

I would also like to give a special mention to a 9-year-old actress in her stage debut as Fan Scrooge, Ella Tidbury – who took to the stage like a trouper and looked like she was having a great time. Her real life brother Arthur aged 7 played Tiny Tim.

Well done one and all – most enjoyable.