By James V. Ruocco
A Christmas Panto is a musical comedy production that was developed in England for young adults using traditional children's stories, fairy tales and classic 19th century works as its primary form of entertainment.
The plot, of course, tended to get mixed up solely for amusement's sake, backed by silly dialogue, playful songs, over-the-top characters, musical hall slang, peppy innuendo, audience participation and merrily happy family endings featuring in-house jokes, actors in drag, shout out phrases and interpolated dances.
With "Christmas Carol," Pantochino's heartwarming, laugh-a-minute take on Charles Dickens famous 19th century novel "A Christmas Carol," Jacob Marley and the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future haunt and taunt Ebenezer Scrooge in true wee-tear fashion, hoping to transform him from miser to kindly gentleman just in time for plum pudding, mince pies, gift giving and Christmas turkey on that day of days to end all - December the 25th.
It's a tall order of sorts that this award-winning theatre troupe addresses with festive cheer, push-and-pull wonderment, dizzying camp and a hefty springling of sugar-coated Christmas magic chock full of witty observation, inspired holiday traditions, atmospheric social commentary and flavorful conversation.
This is theatre.
Splash-bang-wallop, what-a-picture - doused with candy canes, gold ribbons, celebration and fairy dust.
Created by director Bert Bernardi, who, also wrote the book and lyrics (Justin Rugg has composed the music), this "Christmas Carol" gets it right at every single turn, skip, jump, leap, halt, pause and giddyap.
It's fun.
It's dazzling.
It's gorgeous.
It's inventive.
It's colorful.
If Charles Dickens himself were alive and well, he'd probably gush-and-cheer, hoot-and-holler and madly applaud Bernardi and Rugg's enthusiastic re-working and re-telling of his beloved Scrooge story.
Staging "Christmas Carol," Bernardi charms and dazzles with creative aplomb, remarkable showmanship, amazing openness and storytelling flair. He takes chances and runs with them. He excites, cajoles and entertains. He fills the Pantochino stage with Christmas joy and glee. He's spontaneous. He's funny. He's devious. He's inspired. He knows how to get a laugh. He knows how to frame and nurture a punchline. He digs deep. And he always comes up a winner.
Here, he crafts and delivers a five-star musical entertainment of beautifully arranged scenes and musical numbers that spring directly from the heart and imagination of an actor/director who loves theater, completely understands British Panto, characterization, dialogue, story arc progression, gothic gloom, misguided souls and redemption and rebirth.
He also fuels the fire with some ingenious onstage shenanigans that involve too many actors and actresses showing up as the same character in similar wardrobe anxious to hog the spotlight and make mincemeat of the other onstage actors. It's a brilliant, vaudevillian stoke of comic genius that lends itself nicely to the zany, over-the-top proceedings at hand.
Elsewhere, the plot-driven musical score for "Christmas Carol" - a catchy mix of melodic, humorous, playful, and inspired musical numbers - has been blueprinted with plenty of ruse, maneuver, bounce and vigor by Bernardi (lyrics) and Rugg (music), the talented duo responsible for several hit Pantochino musicals including "School Spirits," "Checking in on Charles," "The Littlest Christmas Tree" and "The Gingerbreads of Broadway."
The songs - eleven in all - are "Prologue," "Scrooge & Marley," "You Can Change," "The Spirit Song," "Celebratinatin,' " "Spooky Magical," "The Scratchit Christmas Song," "Nobody Likes You Mr. Scrooge," "Balls!" "Final Destination" and "A Dickens of a Christmas."
Well worth preservation by a studio recording or two, the songs themselves are distinct, jolly, expansive, delightful and expressive, accompanied by free-flowing, rhythmic programming, orchestrations and lyrics that are perfectly in sync with the Scrooge story, its traditions, its themes, its values, its humor, its melodrama and the musical's 19th century London setting.
Doubling as musical director, Rugg's nourished vitality for mood and movement allows the "Christmas Carol" musical score to sparkle and rouse itself with roving aplomb, commitment and luster. He makes all the right choices as to who sings what and when. He has great fun with the material. He brings out the very best sound from his vocalists in terms of strength, tone, pitch, virtuosity and variety. He knows how to shape, build, climax and sell a musical number. Applied hard work and a personal connection to the material also allows Rugg to craft a musical entertainment with vocalists who share his love of music, its performance and how it is etched and sketched within the framework of the musical narrative. That said, it is fresh, invigorating and full-bodied.
"Christmas Carol" stars Justin Rugg as Ebenezer Scrooge, Jimmy Johansmeyer as Bob Scratchit, Bert Bernardi as Victoria Sautee and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future, Davis Burke as Tiny Tim and Shelley Marsh Poggio, Maria Berte, Nora Simonelli, Mary Mannix, Sam Everett, Ryder Blanchard and Don Poggio as the Merry Singers.
Rugg, in the role of Ebenezer Scrooge, brings the iconic Dickens character to life with great vigor, charm, range, style and personality. He's properly British. He's a product of the times. He's amusing. He's dashing. He also comes to "Christmas Carol" with a real sense of the man he is asked to portray and bring to life night and night. It's heartfelt. It's appealing. It's amazing.
As Bob Scratchit (lots of jokes spring from this obvious change of character's name), the hapless clerk who eventually wins Scrooge's heart at the musical's end, Johansmeyer taps into his character's psyche with melt away kindness, sweep and dignity that befits his thoughtful, nourished portrayal. He's the absolute right choice for the role, dressed in perfectly tailored 19th century costuming that he designed for his character using bespoke tailoring and materials that look as if they came directly out of a London fashion house from the 1840s.
Acting as costumer designer for the entire production, Johansmeyer delivers a post-card perfect style of life, a la Dickens, that uses colors, fabrics, design and combinations that pay homage to old crafting, customization and made-to-measure clothing from a very bygone era. Stunning on every level.
The Merry Singers, as played by the likes of Mannix, Berte, the Poggio duo and other Pantochino actors, double, triple and sidestep into a variety of roles that showcase their incredible vocal and acting talents. They too come to "Christmas Carol" with a knowledge and understanding of how to play Panto and immerse themselves wholeheartedly into the pages of this reworked musical edition of the Dickens classic.
One of the best Pantochino musicals of the year - and, believe me, there are many - "Christmas Carol" is pure holiday magic (it doesn't get any better than this) chock full of British musical hall heart, rollicking showmanship, a jamboree of spirited songs and dialogue, playful tomfoolery, Christmas card dazzle and a company of Dickensian actors whose unstoppable theatrics give this oft-told morality tale its wonderful sense of camaraderie and good cheer.
The added bonus of Victoria Sautee - the most glittering bauble on the Pantochino stage - dressed to the nines in Jimmy Johansmeyer's glamorous pre-Victorian costuming - is plum pudding delight in all her sugary confection glory, and well she should be. As played by Bernardi, she is stylish, campy, amusing and channeling, offering a masterclass in musical comedy, framed by an effervescent ebb and performance flow that makes every one of her ghostly visits sing and sting with movie star glam, glitter and I'm ready for my close-up Mr. DeMille.
As theatre, this "Christmas Carol" is the essence of sheer fun and rapt silliness, gift wrapped for holidays in bright, colorful packaging that provides the perfect backdrop for this reworked, effervescent telling of Charles Dickens immortal 1843 tale of ghosts, humbug, redemption and change.
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