‘I joke that I’ve played every role in A Christmas Carol save for Tiny Tim,’ says actor David Adams, here in character presenting a gift to Rickie Wang’s Tiny Tim. ‘… But I think this is one of the best versions because of how it brings out the fact that Scrooge isn’t just a mean old geezer, he’s a broken man due to his experiences.’Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected.
This holiday season, the Arts Club Theatre Company presents the Canadian premiere of the show. Directed by Bobby Garcia, the production features veteran actor David Adams as Scrooge. It’s not the first time the actor has appeared in a stage version of the enduring story, but the way it has turned into a storyteller piecer where the townsfolk gather every holiday season to recount the history of their very own Ebeneezer is a new spin on a familiar story.
He stresses that Bell’s book for the musical doesn’t draw on obvious songs from the Parton catalogue as Coat of Many Colors or Tennessee Mountain Home. About 60 per cent of the music is new with 40 per cent being past seasonal tunes. The show is not a jukebox musical. Parton hails from Pittman Center in Sevier County, which borders the Great Smoky Mountains National Park near a fork in the Little Pigeon River. To say that she knows what she’s writing about when penning pieces about her youth growing up in the area is understatement.
Of course, you can’t have a country musical without country singers. While talented song and dance cast can be found throughout the region, did it take a bit of extra searching to arrive at those who could sound convincing belting it out with their dust-blackened overalls on?