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[0:00] Jeff Malone: Welcome to Half Hour with Jeff & Richie, the podcast where we explore the latest shows we see, sharing our insights and opinions on the performances, storylines, and everything in between. In today's episode, we're discussing the off-Broadway production of A Christmas Carol, playing at PAC in NYC. Whether you cannot catch the show in person or you want to expand your thoughts after seeing it, this episode is for you. And as always, we want to inform you that this episode will contain spoilers, so if you're ready to dive into this production, stick around with us. I'm Jeff.

[0:28] Richie Grasso: And I'm Richie, and we're thrilled to be your hosts for this episode. But before we start the conversation about A Christmas Carol, here are a few words from our advertisers.

[0:33] Jeff Malone: Welcome, everyone, to a new episode of Half Hour with Jeff & Richie. Today, we're discussing A Christmas Carol. PAC NYC brings the acclaimed production of A Christmas Carol from London's The Old Vic to New York in a uniquely intimate staging, starring two-time Tony Award winner Michael Cerveris as Ebenezer Scrooge. Two visionary Tony Award winners, playwright Jack Thorne and director Matthew Warchus, offer a magical interpretation of Charles Dickens' timeless classic. Brimming with merriment, tasty treats, and holiday cheer, this immersive production wraps the audience around the action, inviting the communal holiday spirit in us all. On a bitter Christmas Eve, a cold-hearted miser is visited by four ghosts. Transported to worlds past, present, and future, Ebenezer Scrooge witnesses what a lifetime of fear and selfishness has led to, and sees with fresh eyes the lonely life he has built for himself. Can Ebenezer be saved before it is too late?

[1:27] Richie Grasso: Hmm, I wonder. All right, theater hot take for A Christmas Carol. I think taking this production and staging it in the round was beyond delightful, and Michael Cerveris uncovered so many nuanced moments that made Scrooge a genuinely compelling character.

[1:43] Jeff Malone: Yes, I will say this is my favorite version of A Christmas Carol. We saw it on Broadway, now we're seeing it a few years later off-Broadway. This intimate staging in the round works so well. It is smart, it is charming, it is heartwarming in this beautiful time of year, and it is needed to tell this story like this, and I'll tell you my thoughts more on that as we time it.

[2:02] Richie Grasso: Yes, all right, so let's do it. Listen, we're taking a classic. How many versions of A Christmas Carol are there out there? There's a famous book, obviously, the original, but then there's Muppet Christmas Carol, Disney Christmas Carol, there's musical versions of Christmas Carol, there's very dark, serious, filmic versions. There was the one-man show on Broadway that we saw, right? So there's dark film versions, there's comedic film versions, there's friendly for children, there's not friendly for children, right? So it's bold for someone to adapt this again for the Old Vic theater and to adapt this and say, I'm going to tell A Christmas Carol a different way. And there was part of me when I saw this coming to Broadway a few years ago, I said, okay, it's Christmas Carol again. And when you went, you loved it.

[2:55] Jeff Malone: I was obsessed with that. I thought from a direction and a design standpoint, it was incredible. So now to see this at PAC, we'll talk about our experience there a little later, because that is an incredible space, or PAC, NYC, however we say it, right? But to go there and be immersed in this, where the music and the special effects and the people are all around you, this is one of the most communal pieces I've ever seen, where I felt like a room of strangers come together at this time of year, young and old, and just feel like we're the best of friends with the people on stage, the people on stage are like us, and making us feel warm and cozy in this kind of a time's tragic story that also then ends in this uplifting way.

[3:41] Richie Grasso: Yeah, I agree. And we don't really need to go too much into the plot and concept here, because everyone knows this story. But did you feel like you felt anything different seeing this production in terms of the plot and concept?

[3:56] Jeff Malone: Well, I will say, I found that Ebenezer Scrooge's journey in this version is harder, and it takes him longer to realize. I think in a lot of the more simplified versions of this that you've seen films of, it's like, oh, my life, yeah, oh, oh, yeah, he starts the downhill descent to humanity in a heartwarming way, faster. And I thought the moment right before intermission of this, when he's like, no, I'm not a, no, I'm fine, leave me alone. The fact that we end Act One where he's still hard and cold is the conflict that leads you to believe, what is going to take this man to change? And in most versions, it does take the ghost of the future to really tell him, listen, this is what's coming. You don't really care about your past, fine.

Your present, you're all about yourself, fine. But look what's coming, a grave. The life will be over soon. And the people standing around your casket aren't saying the nicest things about you either. So let's talk about that. Amongst the missed opportunities with your family and your love interest, the way you treat people in the real world, you're married to your money, you're fascinated by it. I think what's always so fascinating about this too is like Bob Cratchit's involvement in this. I actually think, I think Mickey Mouse played Bob Cratchit in the Disney version of this. And I think it was Donald Duck was the Scrooge. But as a kid, I remember, yeah, I think Donald Duck was the Scrooge.

[5:34] Richie Grasso: Or maybe Scrooge McDuck, right? Yeah, yeah. And so I remember as a kid thinking when Mickey, who was, Bob Cratchit was like, it's Christmas Eve, like, can I go home now? He's like, yes, but you just get off tomorrow and then you're back. And then when he goes Christmas Day, after all the ghosts, like he goes to his house and Bob Cratchit's like, do you need me to come in right now? Like, is everything okay? Like, it's so sad that like, he needs that job so much to support his family, that Scrooge, there's that tenacious feeling. And even Jacob Marley visiting doesn't really scare him that much. It scares him enough to be like, oh my God, what? And it's the other ghosts and the humor, the humanity of those ghosts that lead him down this journey. So anyway, that was a long winded way of answering your question, which I just found that Scrooge's journey was elongated and much more in depth than many other versions.

[6:25] Jeff Malone: And I would add intimate.

[6:27] Richie Grasso: Very intimate.

[6:28] Jeff Malone: Because of being in the space that we are, which will be more of a ode to the production, but being in this more intimate setting with Scrooge and really trying to understand him as a character in this and saying like, oh, oh, wait, am I feeling bad for Scrooge? And I found that there was something in the way that this was told from a more of a like a plot perspective, as well as like, you got more of his relationships with the other characters in the show here, especially with Belle and the other ghost or his nephew. And seeing it so close really let me kind of dive a little bit more into trying to understand him as a person. Trying to say like, oh, he wanted to do so much and he became kind of curmudgeonly because he couldn't do it.

So it kind of like, you kind of like let him get some slack there. Like he seems like a bad person, but also there was so much that happened to him that he was not OK with that, you know, from his upbringing to not getting his way in with the girl and trying to do his own thing. There were so many things that I felt like I don't always kind of like take that in when I see A Christmas Carol. And this time I did.

[7:52] Richie Grasso: Totally.

[7:53] Jeff Malone: So I think this is a good time to kind of like switch over to the production now, because there's so much we're going to talk to about the space in general, the direction, the actor performances and the design. So when we get back, we're going to dive into that.

[8:05] Richie Grasso: OK, and we're back. So let's kind of just talk about this production first and foremost with it being in the round.

[8:09] Jeff Malone: It works in the round. I first want to talk about just like the design aspect of all these lanterns hanging from the top, the big swinging lantern, the scenic lighting, sound and costume design are so intertwined that it's almost like hard to believe that like there were multiple people working. Obviously, it looks like a village put this on because that's how much work went into it. But to think like that, there was all these different visions that came together as one vision. I love that they're all in top hats in the beginning. I love that these lanterns are illuminated and lighting us through the way as lanterns would have at this time. There's so much to kind of talk about about the lantern and like, what does that light mean in general to the whole piece?

But also immersing us like so early on with the other actors, they're walking around, they're greeting you in the beginning, they're singing carols, they're playing on the stage, they're throwing fruit at you and cookies and they're like wanting you to be like nerd and then start smelling like oranges in the audience. It's nice. And then like on top of that, I think another cool scenic element, too, is like these boxes that come out of the floor and go back in. I remember that from the Broadway run, too, that they come out and they are his desk and his money and then it goes back into the ground. There's such a theme here of death. And I hate to say that in such a joyous piece of an ending of a piece with A Christmas Carol, but death is looming throughout this whole piece, right?

Like this back to the ground, you bury in the earth, the money is coming out and going down. So there's this rooting in the floor. The door frames come out of the floor and go down, right? There is just fascinating things with what they're doing with the floor subspace.

[10:01] Richie Grasso: It's funny when you say the money goes into the floor, too, because don't they talk about how like in the future, he doesn't leave the money to anyone and it's put down into the ground with him essentially because he has no will. He didn't really leave it to anyone, right? But it's also the irony of you can't take it with you. The money doesn't go with you when you die. So there's that whole irony to it, too. But then we talk about props and I think our props team must be really busy because the food coming down the slides is this gorgeous feeling of joy. You're like, oh, my gosh, this town is coming together. And they're like, send down the cranberries. And there go the guys. And they're like...

[10:39] Jeff Malone: And I was actually very intrigued to see how they were going to do it in this space, because being in the Pearlman is very different now, too, where it's kind of like a big black box, would you call it, right? Or a mini arena of sorts.

[10:52] Richie Grasso: Yeah, you really could do anything here. The last thing that we saw there was Jellicle Ball, which was completely different than this whole staging here for A Christmas Carol. So that makes this space even more unique that you can really do anything that you want in it. But yes, having these prop foods come in to build the table, to have the feast at the end of the night, is also like a little bit of the comedy in it, too. And the warmness that you're saying, like when the turkey flies in and getting the audience kind of like...

[11:21] Jeff Malone: And that little child up from the audience to kind of be part of it. There's the child element of this, too, right? Like just that feeling of, what's the lesson we've learned here? The food that was brought to this family, this family that needs this help. And he's trying to, on Christmas Day of all days, try to go to people and say, I'm sorry. And that's what was also one of the most heartbreaking scenes, too, was when he went to Belle's house, which is played by the incomparable and wonderful Julia Knitel, who we love so much. And she's there and she's like, oh, I have a family. I moved on with my... I'm so sorry, but thank you for... And that scene was so gripping to me. So gripping, because I don't feel like I ever had that. And I really, as talking about actor performances now, too, like Michael Cerveris, I think like, wow, there was something that he just brought to Scrooge that he made him much more likable for me earlier on in the piece.

[12:26] Richie Grasso: Because you knew how it was going to end?

[12:30] Jeff Malone: Because he's not really likable in the beginning. No, not because of that, because I think you felt for him earlier on in this production. I think you really learn like, yes, sure, I do know how the play ends. But watching that and maybe knowing that does help me say like, oh, wow, the relationship with Belle's father and the relationship with his own father and seeing some of that really up close makes you kind of feel like, oh, yeah, that's why I had feelings for him and saying like, yeah, he is the way that he is because of everything that's happened to him.

[13:03] Richie Grasso: Yeah. And in terms of the other unsupporting, I mean, I'm talking about some of the other acting moments that we had. I thought we had an incredible cast of people.

[13:11] Jeff Malone: We did.

[13:12] Richie Grasso: I really do. I will say, other than Michael, of course, was Crystal Lucas-Perry, the Ghost of Christmas Present. Really, really great. Haven't seen her in a while. Nancy Opel, who's been in a million Broadway shows and is so, so great, is the Ghost of Christmas Past. I love that the ghosts are women. I don't know if that's upper interpretation or not, whether men or women, but there's so many male characters in the piece that I just love that women are of different ages and backgrounds here are kind of like guiding him through his reality. I love that because he clearly in his life, this character didn't have much luck with women, doesn't really have women around him. He's in a very masculine, at the time, dominated environment. So I think there were some gender things going on there that I appreciated they do in this production.

[13:56] Jeff Malone: Welcome back to Half Hour with Jeff and Richie. Today, we're diving into the 2025 Off-Broadway production of A Christmas Carol at the Perelman Performing Arts Center.

[14:26] Richie Grasso: That's right, Jeff. This adaptation by Jack Thorne and directed by Matthew Warchus and Thomas Caruso brings a fresh perspective to a classic story.

[14:41] Jeff Malone: Absolutely. The in-the-round configuration really changes how the audience engages with the narrative, especially with Ebenezer Scrooge's journey.

[14:56] Richie Grasso: And let's not forget about the immersive environment created by Rob Howell's scenic design. It truly enhances the storytelling experience.

[15:26] Jeff Malone: Yes, the way the space is utilized allows for a more intimate connection between the performers and the audience.

[15:56] Richie Grasso: Speaking of performers, Michael Cerveris, Julia Knitel, Crystal Lucas-Perry, and Nancy Opel all deliver standout performances that really highlight the ensemble approach of the production.

[16:26] Jeff Malone: Each actor brings something unique to their roles, making the characters feel more relatable and engaging.

[16:36] Richie Grasso: I particularly enjoyed the scene work throughout the show. It emphasizes the emotional depth of the story while still maintaining that holiday spirit.

[16:46] Jeff Malone: Exactly. The balance between the darker themes and the festive elements is handled beautifully.

[17:06] Richie Grasso: And it’s interesting to think about where this version of A Christmas Carol might go after its Off-Broadway run.

[17:16] Jeff Malone: Yes, with the growing trend of immersive and family-focused holiday revivals, it could pave the way for more innovative adaptations.

[17:26] Richie Grasso: I think audiences are really craving that kind of experience, especially during the holiday season.

[17:36] Jeff Malone: Definitely. It’s all about creating memorable moments that resonate with people of all ages.

[17:46] Richie Grasso: And this production does just that, inviting everyone into the world of Scrooge and his transformative journey.

[17:56] Jeff Malone: So, if you’re in New York, make sure to check it out at PAC NYC.

[18:06] Richie Grasso: And for those who have seen it, we’d love to hear your thoughts. Share your comments on Spotify!

[18:16] Jeff Malone: Yes, let us know what you think about this adaptation and what you’d like us to cover next.

[18:26] Richie Grasso: And if you enjoy these post-show conversations, don’t forget to follow Half Hour and leave a rating and review.

[18:46] Jeff Malone: It really helps more theater lovers discover the podcast.

[19:06] Richie Grasso: We appreciate all of our listeners and can’t wait to dive into more Broadway discussions with you.

[19:16] Jeff Malone: Until next time, keep celebrating the magic of theater!

[19:26] Richie Grasso: Happy holidays, everyone!