REVIEW: BAT's 'Christmas Carol Rag' – fun, warm feeling of the holiday season

From left to right, Anne Cratchit (Hannah Rockel) and Bob Cratchit (Jaron Boggs) celebrate the birth of their baby while friend and co-worker Agnes (Jessica Robins) looks on in Burien Actors Theatre’s musical The Christmas Carol Rag. Photo by Michael Brunk / nwlens.com.[/caption]

Review by Shelli Park The holidays are upon us and with the holidays we can always look forward to the seasonal offering which Burien Actors Theatre serves up. This year’s production The Christmas Carol Rag is a musical comedy with live piano accompaniment performed by Elizabeth Bender. The story has bones from Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, but with a few twists. Scrooge is a woman, for one. Cara Hazzard plays the indomitable Evelyn Scrooge. Hazzard brings just the right amount of cold-hearted bitterness to the role. Through her journey with the three Ghosts she times her heart-thawing evolution perfectly. As we visit her history with the Ghost of Christmas Past it is clear that she was damaged by more than childhood loneliness and heartbreak. Scrooge was rejected because she is an intelligent woman with ambition, bringing a wholly different, and greater, purpose to this story. The three Ghosts, of Past, Present and Future, presented themselves as stand alone, unique characters. The Ghost of Christmas Past (Jessica Robins; also plays Agnes) is delightful! Robins pulls off an East Coast Jewish character with aplomb! This ghost is geshmack, and initiates Scrooge’s journey in the best way. The Ghost of Christmas Present continues the fun! Angelica Barksdale (also, Ruthie) brings soul to the stage. Scrooge is the one being bossed around this time. And the lessons keep on coming. As with Robins, Barksdale’s voice fills the stage as she belts out Go Tell it on the Mountain. Another delightful performance. The Ghost of Christmas Future (Rochelle Flynn) is a dark, silent presence. Scrooge allows her mind to be manipulated by her own fears in the company of this staid Ghost. Another important character is Bob Cratchit. Played by Jason Boggs, Cratchit is a delight. Boggs brings this sensitive and sincere character to a higher level. He is charming, and has a delightful singing voice, though it could use a little more volume. Cratchit’s lovely wife, Anne, (Hannah Rockel) is long-suffering in the service of Ms. Scrooge. And she is pregnant, almost to term. Rockel plays Anne as a sweet, but practical, woman, the perfect counterpart to her dreamer husband. Together, they sing a transporting version of Meet Me Tonight in Dreamland. The second half contains the strongest performances. “If I Were on The Stage,” sung by Fred (Scrooge’s nephew, played by Max Lopuszynski), Sylvia (Fred’s girlfriend, played by Rosemary Herold) and company falls under the purview of the Ghost of Christmas Present. Lopuszynski and Herold have great chemistry. Their stage presence and vocal training shine. As Scrooge’s metamorphosis comes to completion she sings I Heard the Bells. It is a very moving piece. While Hazzard does not have the most polished voice, she is able to bring us with her full circle as she realizes life’s beauty and celebrates the season by giving back to her community. To add to the wonder, the set design by Albie Clementi, is another exercise is flexible space management. The number of configurations made possible, and the choreography necessary to bring about scene changes, adds to the entertainment! While this is not the best that BAT has presented over the last couple of years, The Christmas Carol Rag is successful in getting the audience into the warm feeling of the holiday season. Show dates and times:

• Friday, December 1, 2017 8pm
• Saturday, December 2, 2017 8pm
• Sunday, December 3, 2017 2pm
• Friday, December 8, 2017 8pm
• Saturday, December 9, 2017 8pm
• Sunday, December 10, 2017 2pm
• Friday, December 15, 2017 8pm
• Saturday, December 16, 2017 8pm
• Sunday, December 17, 2017 2pm

COUPON Click on the coupon below, then print from your home computer and save $5 bucks: TICKETS Ticket prices range from $10 to $20. Student tickets are just $10. For tickets, special deals or other information, go to www.burienactorstheatre.org or call 206-242-5180. BAT is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) entity and operates on revenue from ticket sales, donations, grants, sponsorships and volunteers. It’s located at 14501 4th Ave SW: ]]>