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GEORGE VETTER PHOTO/CANNON-BEACH.NET
The full cast of “A Christmas Carol: The Musical”
A CHRISTMAS CAROL: THE MUSICAL
The holiday classic, running Nov. 17 through Dec. 23, closes the Coaster Theatre Playhouse’s 45th anniversary season
By WILLIAM HAM
FOR COAST WEEKEND
Y
ou know the story: the miserly
skinfl int visited by three
ghosts who teach him the
error of his ways and help him
learn the true meaning of Christmas.
It’s added the term “Scrooge” to the
lexicon, turned “Bah! Humbug” into
an all-purpose grumble of anti-holiday
disdain, and has been adapted, reimag-
ined and parodied countless times. In
the annals of timeless holiday tales, “A
Christmas Carol” resides comfortably
at the top of the list.
And now, to close its 45th anniver-
sary season, Cannon Beach’s Coaster
Theatre Playhouse brings “A Christmas
Carol: The Musical” to the stage. The
show opens Friday, Nov. 17, and runs
through Saturday, Dec. 23.
The Charles Dickens classic is part
of a tradition stretching back to the
theater’s beginnings.
A community-written and performed
production, known as “The Dickens
Play,” was among the Cannon Beach
playhouse’s fi rst offerings in 1972, and
became their go-to winter attraction for
many years thereafter. Further adap-
tations followed, most recently Leslie
Bricusse’s “Scrooge! The Musical” in
2012. And now the theater has brought
things full-circle with its most ambi-
tious “Carol” to date.
Originally produced at the Theater
at Madison Square Garden, where it ran
annually from 1994 to 2003, “A Christ-
mas Carol: The Musical” is trickier and
more challenging than most adaptations
of Dickens’ novella. With lyrics by
Tony Award-winner Lynn Ahrens and
music by eight-time Academy Award
recipient Alan Menken, the production,
as directed by Lisa Fergus, has nearly
wall-to-wall music and very little spo-
ken dialogue.
“It’s more of an operetta than a
standard musical,” Jenni Tronier, the
Coaster’s marketing and operations
director, said. “Almost everything in
the show is sung rather than spoken,
which is a challenge for our actors; it
uses different muscles than they might
be used to.”
“As far as format goes, it’s probably
closest to something like ‘Les Misera-
bles,’” added David Sweeney, a Coaster
regular — this is the fourth production
he’s appeared in this season — who is
lending his talents (and his burgeon-
ing muttonchops) to the role of Bob
Cratchit, Ebeneezer Scrooge’s put-upon
underling.
“Anyone should be able to follow
along even if they’re unfamiliar with
the story — if such a person even
exists!” he said
IF YOU GO
“A Christmas Carol:
The Musical,” based on the
novella by Charles Dickens
Coaster Theatre Playhouse,
Cannon Beach
Performances Nov. 17 — Dec. 23,
2017
7:30 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays
3:00 p.m., Sundays, Nov. 26, Dec.
10 and 17
7:30 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 21
Tickets: $20 or $25, call 503-436-
1242 or log on to coastertheatre.
com/box-offi ce
Box offi ce is open 1 to 5 p.m.
Wednesday to Saturday; perfor-
mance days, 1 p.m. to curtain time.