Adrienne Warren in the tile role of “Tina: The Tina Turner Musical,” directed by Phyllida Lloyd, at the
Lunt-Fontanne.
➤ A CHRISTMAS CAROL, from p.28
the erasure of the social context
that gave Dickens’ story its power.
In the original, the unreformed
Scrooge represents the unfeeling
world that cares little for the
poor and would happily relegate
them to workhouses or treadmills.
Surely it would not take much to
contemporize the tale given today’s
political climate. But rather than
address pervasive selfi shness and
greed, Thorne has invented an
“origin story” for Scrooge, casting
him as a man who became a
monster because his father didn’t
love him, reducing the great ethical
lesson of the tale to neurosis.
Dickens’ Scrooge is awakened to
the error of his ways by revisiting
the past, seeing for the fi rst time
the present as it is, and, his heart
touched, understanding that he
can change the future. In Thorne’s
retelling, Scrooge adamantly defends
his actions until all the
people he has hurt stage a kind of
intervention. This Scrooge is not
visited by a supernatural being
but rather cranky therapists who
force him into a 12-Step program.
What should be expansive and
joyful is frankly a bore.
All this is doubly frustrating
because no lesser director than
Matthew Warchus has created a
wonderful Victorian setting and
a sumptuous production. Unfortunately,
what is obscured here
is the human story. Broadway luminaries
LaChanze and Andrea
MANUEL HARLAN
Martin as the Ghosts of Christmas
Present and Past, respectively, are
delightful, but Campbell Scott, as
Scrooge, is disappointing — often
manic but never menacing. His
transformation is confusing, but
that’s the script failing him.
“A Christmas Carol” will survive
this interpretation, as it has many,
many others. Still, in a version as
weak and misguided as this, one
leaves the theater not inspired but
perhaps instead mindful of a variation
on the book’s most famous
line: “God help us, everyone.”
FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO
HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE/
WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF
| Public Theater, 475 Lafayette
St., btwn. E. Fourth St. & Astor Pl.
| Through Dec. 15: Tue.-Sun. at 8
p.m.; Sat.-Sun. at 2 p.m. | $75-$85
at publictheater.org or 212-967-7555
| Ninety mins., no intermission
TINA: THE TINA TURNER MUSICAL
| Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, 205
W. 46th St. | Tue., Thu. at 7 p.m.;
Wed., Fri.-Sat at 8 p.m.; Wed., Sat.
at 2 p.m.; Sun. at 3 p.m. | $99-
$179 at ticketmaster.com or 800-
653-8000 |Two hrs., 40 mins, with
intermission
A CHRISTMAS CAROL | Lyceum
Theatre, 149 W. 45th St. | Through
Jan. 5: Tue.-Thu. at 7 p.m.; Fri.-Sat.
at 8 p.m.; Wed., Sat. at 2 p.m.; Sun.
at 3 p.m. | $89-$169 at telecharge.
com or 212-239-6200 | Two hrs., 15
mins., with intermission
TURN YOUR CONCERN
INTO IMPACT.
The New York Community Trust
can help maximize your
charitable giving.
Contact Jane at
(212) 686-0010 x363
GayCityNews.com | December 5 - December 18, 2019 29
/publictheater.org
/ticketmaster.com
/GayCityNews.com
