A Christmas Carol is a classic. Everyone knows the story of Scrooge and how he got visited by three ghosts. I’m proud to say that the Seminole Theatre is putting their twist on the classic story. Now we all know I had the opportunity to sneak in and watch them rehearse last week but now I was able to see the full-blown production. It’s sort of crazy to see how much an audience can change a performance. You never know how your lines are going to be received until you perform them in front of people. I could tell that they were feeding off the audience and giving a high level performance. If they made mistakes I couldn’t tell. The intensity of the acting was great, especially knowing that a lot of the performers are just regular community members! It was an amazing surprise.
The chemistry between all the actors was great. Scrooge’s acting rocked my soul with his powerful emotions (he did make me jump sometimes) and the ghosts were amazing. My favorite? I have to say that the ghost of Christmas past played by Emily Navarro. I was shocked to see someone so young with such talent. I can’t wait to see her grow more in her acting ability. Whoever played ghost of Christmas future scared me which I guess is a good thing. I won’t speak more about it because you should see the effects of the creepiness yourself.
Another surprise? The set. I can’t stop telling everyone how amazing the set is. Am I little a jealous…well…just a tad. The depths that they went through to make a set of that magnitude is amazing. It was two floors, the top floor looking like a mini bedroom and on the bottom floor they would lift a wall revealing a different setting each time. It was spectacular. Props to the stage hands who had to change the set multiple times.
Although A Christmas Carol can be very intense with the mention of death and looking back into one’s past to tackle emotional issues there was some comedic relief. My favorite ones? The yes/no game and the Laundress. Both had the audience giggling in their seats.
Obviously being the first night there was a few mistakes. But hey it’s the first night. I never expect any opening night to go smoothly. I know from experience. But the mistakes were minor and easily fixable. I don’t doubt that tonight’s show will go off without any flaws.
I haven’t seen a straight play (non musical) in years and I can say with full confidence that I’m happy I got to see A Christmas Carol.
Tickets are still on sale and on;y $15! Get them now!
