A Christmas Carol Reviews

from Solebury, PA

A CHRISTMAS CAROL 2022 -MCCARTER THEATRE

My family and I have been attending A Christmas Carol for the past 30+ years. We always look forward to attending the play, but this year’s production was a disappointment and the worst we have ever seen. The production was not only confusing and hard to follow, but the dialog was difficult to comprehend, and the cast simply did not gel. The actors were not believable, and this rendition was woke, modernized, and completely lacked the charm of previous performances. Thank you for ruining a classic.

A Christmas fan from Livingston, NJ

PLEASE BRING BACK THE 2016-2019 PRODUCTION

The show was disappointing, awkward & at times boring. We LOVED the production, script & cast 2016/17-2019. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Even the script this year was very lackluster. It was much better years ago - we would leave happy, inspired & excited to see it again, but not this time. The previous production felt like a step back in time from the opening song through singing "Deck the halls" at the end, it was so heartwarming, fun & beautiful! The actors were talented so nothing against them but some of the characters were awkward - Old Joe & Scrooge should've been older men - it would've fit better for this period piece & I'm an open minded liberal. Greg Wood was a fantastic Scrooge. We used to count down the days to watch this show every year, I don't know if we'll be back, which is so upsetting because McCarter's ACC was always our favorite. We'll be praying for a miracle for the previous production to return for 2023

CaptHistory from New Jersey

WHAT HAPPENED…?

I went to go see “A Christmas Carol” this year2022 and my disappointment is immeasurable. This show became a family tradition over the past 5 years and that tradition was ruined. It was not a true experience like they’ve had in the past. No Christmas carols, the adaptation went a little too far from the original story, and the actors performances did not live up to past years. Other people in the audience next to me were saying “what the heck is going on” or “This show is not what it was” during the actual performance. It took all of me not to just stand up and walk out. It is sad to see something that was so amazing and magical turn into this almost unwatchable product. If you are expecting an experience like past years, please save your money and hope next year they do the show like it was in the past.

A M from New York, New York

WORST PRODUCTION I’VE SEEN IN 37 YEARS

I am 42 years old and have been going to this play since I was 5. It’s been a tradition I now share with my kids. The play was the worst production yet. You cannot rewrite history and “modernize” a classic novel and play. My biggest issue lies with the overall production, lack of passion, humor, and the fact a woman played Scrooge made the character unbelievable. There was no rudeness or anger like we have seen in years past. No booming voice. All the characters fell flat. The accents were all over the place, making London not believable. The play was modernized by being almost all women for the cast, including 2 bisexual references (totally fine, not the story line). A line in Spanish by the Cratchet family (huh?) and when the female Scrooge gave Peter a job, she/he had to offer all the women a job, as Mrs Cratchet referenced earlier that she could also contribute to the household. This is supposed to be 1843, not 2022. Not the warm feeling the play has brought years past. Too “woke”

Paulette from Trenton, NJ

KILLING A CLASSIC

This A Christmas Carol was a MOST disappointing experience. It was a lackluster performance where Dickens message of social justice and redemption were so distorted. The direction was poor. Impactful scenes from the classic were omitted and modern references were interjected throughout making the play inconsistent. Where was the despicable Scrooge? Scenes from his past were watered down and had little impact on the character or the audience. This has been a tradition in my family for years. Each season we anxiously await our family outing to the theater. Each year, we’ve been transported back in time and have been drawn in to the story that we forget that these were actors in stage. Not this year. The emotions of greed, avarice, despair, fear, elation, joy, sorrow, etc were gone. Even Fezziwig’s Christmas party was flat. This play was once a truly joyous experience. This production preached to the audience and trashed the real message. What were you thinking? Tiny Tim a vet????

Seasoned Patron from Princeton, New Jersey

MCCARTER’S CHRISTMAS CAROL - HIGHLY DISAPPOINTING

I’ve gone to The Christmas Carol at McCarter for 15 years. This was by far the most disappointing year yet. The acting was flat for almost all actors. The story updates were distracting. If you are going to update a classic, update it completely and have MRS. Scrooge instead of a female actor strain her voice pretending to be Mr. Scrooge for 2 hours and 20 minutes. The Cratchet family refer to their children as El Niños and a hip hop dance off replaced the classic sing along of We Wish You A Merry Christmas as the finale. Many patrons complained on the way out. Many around us left at intermission due to disappointment. You cannot advertise a classic and show this adaptation. If this is the future of theater, it’s dead. Highly disappointed and hope next year returns to the more classic version. This is still possible while being inclusive.

Perennial Patron (strongly reconsidering) from Princeton

VERY DISAPPOINTING PERFORMANCE

I am 46 years old and have been going to this play since I was 7. It’s a tradition that typically sets the tone for our familiy's holiday. The play was the worst production I have seen at McCarter. I felt too much of the storyline was lost to introduce forced modern themes. The connection between Scrooge and Tiny Tim was competely lost. The chorus scenes lacked energy and the choreography was weak compared to previous years. The curtain call was terrible as the cast completely broke character to perform a half baked modern pop Christmas song. The whole production made little sense and if it doesn't change I'll be forced to look for another production in Philadelphia or New York next year. Why take such risks after people returned faithfully after 2 year hiatus due to Covid.

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