It’s Heartwarming! And There’s Something Here for Everyone.
DECEMBER 21—WESTMINSTER
Crotchety Victorian businessman Ebenezer Scrooge (Cliff Senior) has no use for festivity, even at Christmas.
After resentfully allowing timid clerk Bob Cratchit (Vincent Aniceto) to have the holiday to spend with his loving wife (Collette Peters) and family, Scrooge is swept into a nightmare. The ghost of his late partner Jacob Marley (Chris Caputo) appears, warning that Ebenezer will be visited by three more spirits who will show the coldhearted man the error of his parsimonious behavior.
Stepping into the shoes once again for the 2024 Rose Center Theater engagement is the ever distinctive, ever versatile Cliff Senior. An experienced musical performer, Mr. Senior seems right at home as Scrooge. His Dickens antihero is definitive, a burbling old figgy pudding of a curmudgeon, an outright sociopath, using his material advantage over others to, say, ruin their Christmas for the fun of it, or to demand favors in return for financial help he can easily afford just to see how desperate people really are.
Yet this cynical brute, nonetheless, seems to be hiding tiny glimmers of kindness behind those huge, sad, soulful eyes. Mr. Senior’s tweedy charm is actually much fun to watch in the early scenes as the tight-fisted, easily spooked rapscallion.
But when the old miser pulls off a convincing, complete transformation at the end of the show, embracing the warmth of Christmas and kicking up his heels in ecstatic joy, a happy Scrooge appears to drop a good 15, 20, maybe even 25 years from his age in the course of a few seconds. We even yearn to share a sherry and a mustard sandwich with the newly rehabilitated convert.
Indeed, even the hardest-hearted miser would have difficulty not being moved by Rose Center’s A CHRISTMAS CAROL, THE BROADWAY MUSICAL. Set to run through December 22nd, the classic Charles Dickens’s story, retold with a book by Mike Ockhert, music by Alan Menken and lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, is a poignant reminder that all human beings — regardless of socioeconomic status — are worthy of consideration, compassion and love.
Directed and musically directed by Tim Nelson, the production offers a familiar, always fresh rendering of the classic holiday drama. While traditional versions of the story tend to focus almost entirely on the more dramatic elements of the tale, Mr. Ockhert’s version incorporates waggish moments that help to break up the somber atmosphere and sobering message. Several times throughout the show, some light chuckles were heard at an actor’s reaction or a well-timed quip.
Scrooge’s fury, however, as he barks at those who wish him a Merry Christmas at the beginning of the show is very intense. In one interaction he gruffly tells a widower that he and his children will be tossed out on the street on Christmas for failure to pay him (“Nothing to Do With Me”).
And, the same satirical wit that allows him to treat Mr. Aniceto’s Bob Cratchit in roguish castigation or his charwoman, Mrs. Mopps (Teresa Orr), with condescending familiarity is seen in his sharp answers to his nephew or charity solicitors. He is a man set in his ways, a dated fuddy-duddy on the brink of geezery — a fellow whose inhumanity lacks much adornment, all the better to bring him straight away to a life-changing epiphany and 180-degree personality flip.
“Spirit” is the watchword here of this A CHRISTMAS CAROL, and the Tim Nelson troupe infuses the Rose Center Theater with sterling performances all around. Essentially, that includes the three spectral escorts: a gracious and poised Kristin Caputo (Catherine Dosier alternately) as Ghost of Christmas Past, arriving in a superb costume of soft hues and singing a lovely rendition of “The Lights of Long Ago” with a sonorous soprano. Christmas Past reviews the rationale behind much of Scrooge’s behavior — dad went to debtor’s prison, he was separated from a sister and mom he loved, and he was summarily spurned from his fiancé.
Then when the clock strikes again, Trevyn Stephenson (Tim Nelson alternately) appears as a brightly festive, yet sardonic Ghost of Christmas Present, becoming the perfect guide and tutor for a man who needs reform (his second act upbeat number with the bedroom toys, “Abundance and Charity,” was perfectly executed).
Cat Sacksteder soon arrives as Ghost of Christmas Future (“Dancing on Your Grave”), shrouded, ominous, silent...a solemn phantom in a deep black garment, concealing all but a single outstretched hand, coming at him like a mist along the ground, ever towards him, showing him a vision of a Christmas day soon after his death. Scrooge feared the silent shape so much that his legs trembled beneath him, and he found that he could hardly stand when he prepared to follow it. For in the very air through which this spirit moved, it seemed to scatter gloom and mystery.
Other central characters include Vincent Aniceto as Bob Cratchit, the father to Tiny Tim. Cratchit is the overworked, underpaid clerk of Ebenezer Scrooge, who has come to symbolize the long working hours, low pay, and work conditions endured by the poor working class, not only in the early Victorian era but even to this day. And, the always incredible Chris Caputo as an animated Jacob Marley, exhibits his wunderkind as he leads his chain-bearing, day-glow light up cronies in chastising Scrooge with the paranormal, “Link by Link,” featuring Mr. Caputo’s powerful baritone resonating throughout the theater.
Veteran actor Randall Goddard (as the affable but lax Mr. Fezziwig) exudes the easy humanity Dickens wants for Scrooge. And Lauren Belt brings some Broadway-level brightness to her turn as a peppy Mrs. Fezziwig (“Mr. Fezziwig’s Annual Christmas Ball”). The Andersons are Seth Merrill and Kylie Matthews ("Christmas Together") as Scrooge's nephew Fred and wife Sally (who is a bit tired of having to put up with Scrooge for Christmas dinner every year); Kelli Griffin’s Belle is Scrooge's former fiancée; and Tiny Tim is the adorable Charlie Firlik. Mrs. Cratchit is played by Collette Peters, always kind, optimistic and protective, looking out for her family's needs.
Additionally, a large phenomenal supporting cast and crew, which includes preteens as young as eight and too many to list here, are to be commended, providing the necessary ingenuity, dynamic and virtuosity to pull off a classic show such as this with dizzying success, helping to make sure that all of its big moments are as big as they can be.
ROSE CENTER THEATER PRESENTS, A CHRISTMAS CAROL, THE BROADWAY MUSICAL; Music by Alan Menken; Lyrics by Lynn Ahrens; Book by Mike Ockhert; Director and Music Director: Tim Nelson. Choreography: Jennifer Simpson-Matthews; Additional Choreography: Diane Makas; Costume Designer: Jenny Wentworth; Wigs: Cliff Senior; Props: Sherre Titus; Technical Director/Scenic, Lighting and Projection Designer: Chris Caputo.
STARRING: Cliff Senior, Kristin Caputo, Catherine Dosier, Tim Nelson, Trevyn Stephenson, Cat Sacksteder, Vincent Aniceto, Collette Peters, Charlie Firlik. FEATURING: Lauren Belt, Chris Caputo, Randall Goddard, Kelli Griffin, Evan Martorana, Kylie Matthews, Seth Merrill. WITH: Taven Blanke, Harper Balfany, Sofia Aniceto, Bri Wilson, Ava Melgoza, Ethan Horner, Sierra Chavez, Angie Marie Franco, Donovan Monroe, Michael Aguirre, Alyssa Phelen, Linsey Schreck, Erik Duane, Teresa Orr, Jacob Phelen, Seraphine Tran, Nathan Andreas, Collin Higgins, Jamie Hoover, Susann Cellier, Erin Nelsen, Ari Ingwerson;
AND: Sandra Aniceto, Mackenzie Haar, Abie Jones, Carri Anne Manning, Winona Alviso, Hailey Choi, Nell Flanagan, Randy Calcetas, Giorgio Haddad, Scoot Juhl, Landon Mariano, Brandon Reyes, Abigail Barnaby, Iris Choi, Camila Huang, Addison Nguyen, Janelle Catbagan, Eric Hearn, Matt Kim, Payton Mariano, Amiah Robinett, Alex Camba, Eliana Firlik, Andy Lam, Ian Cherrington, Gina Higginbotham, Laney Laughlin, Zariah Merrill, Sophia Grace Williams, Leyna Camba, Makayla Firlik, Giancarlo Mazzaglia, Sophie Simpson, Kelsie Eckert, Nataly Jacobo, Emily Madden, Khoa Nguyen, Harper Castel, Autumn Flanagan, Audrey Moore.
A CHRISTMAS CAROL runs December 6th through December 22nd with performances on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30PM and Sundays at 2PM at Westminster Rose Center Theater, 14140 All American Way, Westminster CA and featured an opening night gala filled with entertainment, prizes, drinks and delicious delights. Run Time: 2 hours, including intermission. For more information, visit: www.rosecentertheater.com.
Chris Daniels
Arts & Entertainment Reviewer
The Show Report
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