Ballet meets Broadway in ‘American Christmas Carol’
B
allet Fantastique’s sparkling holiday
tradition, “An American Christmas
Carol,” returns to the Florence Events Cen-
ter for the fi rst time since 2014. Donna
and Hannah Bontrager have re-imagined
Charles Dickens’ beloved story in iconic
post-WWII America with their original
choreography set to original arrangements
of holiday standards by Frank Sinatra, Ella
Fitzgerald and Nat King Cole. Actor Adam
Goldthwaite joins the company as “Smokey
Joe” Marley.
Ballet Fantastique’s fl agship “Ameri-
can Christmas Carol” is for the young and
young at heart, and it promises to charm
even the stoniest of humbug hearts.
It plays in Florence on Saturday, Dec. 9,
at 7 p.m. at the Florence Events Center, 715
Quince St. Tickets — $24 adults and $16 for
18 and under — are available from www.
balletfantastique.org and eventcenter.org.
“If you imagine what a ballet-Broadway
version of Christmas Carol is, that’s sort
of how I would describe this project,” says
Ballet Fantastique Co-Choreographer-Pro-
ducer Hannah. “We look at how to best tell
the story and make it fun for modern au-
diences. We immerse ourselves in the aes-
thetic and music of the era, we choose songs
that tell the story — even tweaking lyrics if
needed. We also re-imagine the perspective
from which we tell the story.”
In this case, Ballet Fantastique’s unique
new narrative perspective is a 1940s Brook-
lyn gangster, “Smokey Joe” Marley, a peri-
od-inspired re-imagining of the character
of Jacob Marley, Scrooge’s long-dead slimy
business partner in
Dickens’s original.
Th e Bontragers and
their creative team
(including Ballet
Fantastique
staff
Librettist/Historian
Genevieve Speer)
birthed Joe out of
the 1939 Cab Cal-
loway song “Th e
Ghost of Smokey
Joe.”
“When
Gen-
evieve brought us
the Cab Calloway
song, we knew it
was perfect,” says
Ballet Fantastique
Artistic
Direc-
tor and Choreog-
rapher-Producer
Donna Marisa Bontrager. “Th is gravelly
song about a really bad guy became our in-
spiration for a comedic character that drives
the drama. And artistically, Smokey Joe’s
voice also lends our ballet a bit of grit and
humor.”
Guest actor-singer and regular Ballet
Fantastique guest artist Adam Goldthwaite
plays Smokey Joe, and audiences will hear
him sing a modifi ed version of “Ghost of
Smokey Joe,” accompanied by his Ghost
Brides.
But, Smokey Joe and the Ghost Brides
aren’t the only playful twists the Bontragers
have in store in American Christmas Car-
C OAST C ENTRAL
ol. In fact, Donna
Marisa’s favorite ar-
tistic liberty was her
choice to re-imag-
ine the Christmas
Spirits as female
forces to be reck-
oned with.
“I wanted the
spirits to be wom-
en,” she said of her
choice to re-cast
Dickens’
ghosts
as female dancers.
“Th ese are an op-
portunity to really
embody Ebenezer’s
relationship with
his past, present
and future. Th ey
dance with him,
manipulate
him,
run at him, challenge him.”
Th e Spirits are danced by Ballet Fantas-
tique dancers Tracy Fuller (Christmas Past,
to retro jazz hit “Why Don’t You Do Right”),
Ashley Bontrager (Christmas Present, to
Frank Sinatra’s “Th at’s Life”) and Hannah
Bontrager (Christmas Future, to Alfred
Hibbler’s “Aft er the Lights Go Down Low”).
“Our score is 17 iconic standards songs
that explore two related musical traditions
— big band jazz and the popular tunes of
Tin Pan Alley,” says Donna.
Traditional songs, including “Winter
Wonderland,” “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” “Let
it Snow” and “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,”
also set the stage for the ballet’s choreogra-
phy.
“An American Christmas Carol” opens
with an introduction to Ebenezer Scrooge
(Gustavo Ramirez), nephew and new
daughter-in-law Fred and Judy (Natanael
Leal and Carolin Koepplin), and employee
Bob Crachit (Jim Ballard). As Scrooge’s
pessimistic personality emerges, he has a
strange vision in the old clock — not of the
clock face, but of Marley, his long-dead busi-
ness partner. Th e vision fades and Scrooge
drift s to sleep until Marley re-appears, sing-
ing “Th e Ghost of Smokey Joe.” Marley and
his Ghost Brides warn Scrooge that he will
be haunted by three spirits.
As promised, on the stroke of one,
Christmas Past arrives in “Why Don’t You
Do Right,” reminding Ebenezer of love
gained and lost when he met Marilyn (Ash-
ley Bontrager) at Fezziwig’s party way back
in the Roaring ’20s. Aft er returning to bed
— and aft er the audience returns from in-
termission — Scrooge is visited by Christ-
mas Present, who shows Scrooge the joys
of Christmas through visions of Fred and
Judy, and the Crachit family. Here, we will
meet Tiny Tim (London Pendleton), who
fi nds joy and delight in the world in spite of
adversity in Nat King Cole’s “Nature Boy.”
Scrooge then meets Christmas Future
in an eerie tango to Alfred Hibbler’s “Aft er
the Lights Go Down Low.” Scrooge emerg-
es from his encounters with the Spirits a
changed man, “glowing with his good in-
tentions, as light as a feather, happy as an
angel and as merry as a schoolboy.”
I NSIDE
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COVER STORY: Ballet Fantastique reimagined
— Dec. 9 in Florence .............................................
3
Events Calendar ......................................................
4
Coastal Culture: Gallery Listings ............................
6
Holly Jolly Follies gets tinsel in twist ..................... 11
2nd Saturday Gallery Tour ..................................... 12
Coos Art Museum opens new exhibits ................... 17
Class Act Holds December Shows ........................... 23
Nativity Festival features crèche tradition ............. 24
DECEMBER 2017 • Arts & Entertainment • COAST CENTRAL • 3