A Christmas Carol - The Review

Some holidays it's not always easy to get into the holiday spirit. If you have that problem this year, I have the perfect solution: drop by the Huntington City Hall auditorium and catch A Christmas Carol - you'll immediately feel the spirit of the season get a grip on you.

That's because the show is filled with wonderful performances. Leading the way is Clint McElroy as Ebenezer Scrooge. It's always a good idea to find the best actor in the community to play your lead, and that's what they've done here. Clint is outstanding as Scrooge - grouchy, surly, insulting, miserly (and those are his good qualities) and always fascinating to watch. Since this is a musical, Clint gets lots of chances to show off his outstanding singing skills as well. Scrooge is a very difficult role to play, since he must make the ultimate transition from bad to good and do so in a convincing way. Clint makes it look effortless and is perfect in his role at the heart of the story.

But he doesn't manage all this alone - he has an outstanding supporting cast, starting with Mark Near, who pulls double duty as Scrooge's humble employee, Bob Cratchit, and as the larger-than-life Mr. Fezziwig. Mark is a terrific singer and also provides a great counterpoint to Scrooge - watching Mark and Clint working together is seeing two pros in action.

Of course, the story revolves around the four ghosts who visit Scrooge. The first is Paul Neace as Scrooge's dead partner Marley, and Paul's another theatre veteran who does outstanding work, is an excellent singer (and gets to show it in a fantastic number) and made the ultimate sacrifice for the show - he shaved off his beard!

The second Ghost (of Christmas Past) is played by Laura Evans, and what an amazing voice she has! She's performed with the Symphony, but hopefully we'll see her in more stage productions.

The third ghost (of Christmas Present) is played by another veteran of the stage, Tommy Smirl. He plays the part perfectly - larger than life - and has a blast singing and dancing with an army of kids. He's awesome!

The fourth ghost (of Christmas Future) is played by Joy Wilkes (who also plays Mrs. Fezziwig), and she also has a terrific voice and commands your attention.

The show also features a small army of supporting performers (at times they virtually spill off the stage, there are so many), a terrific orchestra and lots of terrific songs.

Kudos to director Mary Smirl, assistant director Tracy Meadows, choreographer Tiffany McCullough and vocal / orchestra director Lara Donahoe for their outstanding work bringing this classic story to the stage.

It's a great show, and there's a good reason why it's become a holiday tradition - it's the ultimate story of the power of Christmas. Do yourself a favor and check it out!