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Theatre Review: Scrooge! the Musical

Joy Watters reviews 'a good looking and sounding production'.

The theatre in the hills always lays on a solid, well-made musical for its Christmas entertainment. This year, it is the Scottish premiere of Leslie Bricusse’s version of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, a truly seasonal tale which sees the festive season bring redemption to the old miser: Scrooge! which began life as a film starring Albert Finney in 1970 then transferred to the stage.

A ten-strong band under the baton of Dougie Flowers is the keynote to the success of this production, supporting the action from hustle and bustle of Victorian London to Scrooge’s introspective moments, with brio and sensitivity. Richard Baron’s production bursts onto the stage with a strong chorus, setting the scene against Adrian Rees’ evocative set. The action is well-paced as we see miserable miser Scrooge being visited by the ghosts of his old partner and Christmas Past, Present and Yet To Come and meet the people whose lives he had blighted.

The large cast takes on a host of roles to people the stage, singing for they are worth, making the most of songs, many of which are not widely known. Philip Rham in the title role is not a strong singer, unfortunately, and does not dig deep into his characterisation of the miser. It is still a moving piece with strong performances from the rest of the cast. Local children help out with the roles of the youngsters, particularly touching as poor crippled Tiny Tim.

It is a good looking and sounding production overall with justice done to the musical telling of the classic story.

Scrooge! performs at Pitlochry Festival Theatre until December 23, 2016.

Tags: theatre

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