Reviewed by Amalisha HuEck
The timeless, familiar story Charles Dickens 'A Christmas Carol' is always good to see. The classic redemption tale reminds us how the hardest of hearts can be opened by the Spirit of Christmas. The creative embellishments of this wonderful production with its exciting, vivid and imaginative narrative of the events fly in front of us with ease. The familiar visits of ghosts during Scrooge's nights are best devoted to marveling man's salvation showing that scary and negative experiences can lead to change, and goodness with its loving heart can become the driving force.
The reality of the Dicken's time is richly expressed in this production, at First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, with its costumes, hair, stage setups, lights, music, and the creative imagination. This stage adaptation by Julietta Corti (Script Adaptation, Choreographer), under the masterful hand of director Jesse Corti, is unabashedly faithful to the novel. The talented voices of a huge cast of twenty bounce off the walls of this elegant English Gothic Cathedral on the level of a Broadway production. Bravo!
The wonderful cast members are Tim Farmer (Scrooge), Dan Hazel, Zachary Poole, David Crowley, Ben Kientz, Renato Biribin, Kimi Walker, Brendon Duvon, Steve West, Allison Schlicher, Julietta Corti, Avrielle Corti, Hannah Lloyd, Dasha Conrad, Georgina Ang, Sven Frisch, Emily Moreno, Philip Watt, Maurice McGraw and Ayomide Osidipe.
Produced by Kimi Walker with the Production Manager (George LePorte), Sound Design (Evan Turunen), Sound Engineer (Nick Temmel), Lighting Designer (Nick Foran), Costume Design (A. Jeffrey Schoenberg), Set Design & Construction (Tim Farmer), Stage Manager (Sarah Imm) and many more, bring craftily to life 'Charles Dickens most celebrated work.'
Jesse Corti expresses the heart of the play, 'Dickens invites us to contemplate our own life's trajectories and perhaps redraft our own eulogies while there is still a chance and a hope to make those changes.' Historians credit A Christmas Carol with establishing our contemporary traditions of celebrating Christmas. Going to church, gathering with family, giving gifts in a spirit of generosity, and feasting. At Christmastime may we join our voices in singing the song of love's redemptive power. 'God Bless Us, Everyone!'
A MUST-see production of Dickens 'Christmas Carol' runs through December 16 at the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, 1760 North Gower, LA 90028. The performances are on Fridays at 7:30 pm, Saturdays 2:30 & 7:30 pm, and Sundays 2:30 pm. For tickets call 323-928-7452 or visit
www.achristmascarolhollywood.com
Ticket prices $25 dollars, Senior prices $20.00, Student prices $15.00, Children prices $15.00, Family 4 pack $50.00. VIP SEATS IN THE SCROOGE AND MARLEY SECTION, $35.00 PER PERSON includes the best seats in the house, a reserved table at the Fezziwig Christmas Party including desserts and refreshments. FREE PARKING and an invite to the Fezziwig Christmas Party after the performance with each paid ticket.
*** With no surprise, some celebrities were the part of the opening night audience, and everyone was invited to enjoy cookies, coffee and hot cyder which was served after the show, to help us all get into the Spirit of Christmas and giving.