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Post by starlight92 on Dec 6, 2022 15:04:04 GMT
I saw this last night and can confirm that the end rows of the dress circle gives a good view despite being sold as restricted! I enjoyed it overall, but not as much as I thought I would after seeing so many good reviews spoilers below obviously (not sure whether to cover them as it's a well-known story?!) I thought the script was quite clunky at times, with Tiny Tim kind of hammed in like an afterthought, especially when he meets Scrooge and they have this weird dialogue about him being an 'invader'. And when Scrooge first saw him he didn't even care and said to the ghost that it was trying to "manipulate him with a crippled child". I was also quite shocked that they introduced Scrooge's father as hitting Scrooge, this story is dark enough without adding child abuse to the mix, just seems unnecessary in my opinion. Really shouty end to act one with Scrooge and the Ghost of Christmas Present too...and not sure we needed quite so much of Belle, why would you go and see your ex on Christmas Day?! Some other strange choices and confusing things include the ensemble telling us Scrooge went to bed at 2, and then him getting visited by the ghost anyway at 12, and Scrooge being able to interact with people in the past and act out his own past (why not just get a young actor to play him, and he can watch and comment?). Anyway all these random criticisms aside, it was still a lot of fun, particularly when Scrooge was getting Christmas dinner ready, including with the help of an audience member! Owen Teale was an excellent Scrooge too. And to be fair, a lot of what I said above did mean it stood out from a regular Christmas Carol format, instead of being a cut-and-dry adaptation, but I just found a few things a bit jarring. 3/5 though!
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Post by jm25 on Dec 7, 2022 22:16:24 GMT
As an adaptation I wasn’t totally taken by this. I think Dickens is so incredibly difficult to adapt beyond the page and as an adaptation I don’t think this fared well in comparison to certain screen versions. Lots of the ‘added’ moments between characters didn’t quite work for me.
However, that is the cynic in me. What it doesn’t quite achieve as an adaptation it certainly makes up for in sheer joy and spirit in that final 1/3 or so. Great stuff!
That said, please, please avoid the Baylis Circle (especially the uppermost part) if you can. I left this quite late to book so just booked there because it was what was available - but it was an incredibly restricted view. There are hanging lights (and chains) which totally obstruct most of the action on stage. It was to the point that if I hadn’t already known Owen was the lead, I genuinely would have been none the wiser! I wouldn’t have minded if they’d been sold as restricted view but, to my knowledge at least, they weren’t. Would have enjoyed it more from elsewhere, that’s for sure. If only because I’d have been able to see what was going on!
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Post by sfsusan on Dec 7, 2022 22:38:37 GMT
I saw this yesterday in seats I'd bought the day before and thought they were a relative bargain. Left Stalls, M 54/55... it's a slightly skewed view of the main stage but not enough to be uncomfortable. The row is elevated so nobody's head is in your way, and the seats are at the end of the row with an adjacent railing, so quite easy to get in and out to give others access. And substantially cheaper than the premium stalls seats! (As a bonus, some of the action occurs in that aisle, so I got to shake Scrooge's hand!!)
I really liked the changes, especially the ne'er-do-well debtor father, tieing into Dickens' own childhood. My interpretation was that Scrooge went to see Belle because he still loves her, as well as needing to apologize for his past behavior. (It's not explicit, but when the ghosts tell Scrooge only he can change his future, "making amends" is one of the traditional steps to do so.)
The ghost of Christmas future scene was really grim and spooky, which is what it's meant to be. And the gathering up of Christmas dinner was fun (although went on a bit long). I really liked the holiday touch of pre-show mince pies and 'oranges' (actually Satsumas).
In short, this is one of the best Christmas Carol versions I've seen.
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Post by alessia on Dec 23, 2022 7:41:53 GMT
Lovely to revisit this yesterday evening- lots of families in the audience and very festive atmosphere with the mince pies and satsumas being given out which was an addition to last year's production. I remember that last year I was more moved by the story, and cried far more than this year- but that might be because I am now familiar with this production. Could also be that this time I had a worse seat (Row N 80) which was side view and restricted by the railing. I felt that there was quite a bit of the action where I was looking at the actor's back, so I wouldn't sit there again- saying that, I don't think I'll be prepared to spend much more to see this again, and the good seats are very pricey! I liked Owen Teale as Scrooge and the music and singing were lovely. In all, a great evening at the Old Vic as every year with Christmas Carol.
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Post by ceebee on Dec 24, 2022 22:38:26 GMT
Lovely to revisit this yesterday evening- lots of families in the audience and very festive atmosphere with the mince pies and satsumas being given out which was an addition to last year's production. I remember that last year I was more moved by the story, and cried far more than this year- but that might be because I am now familiar with this production. Could also be that this time I had a worse seat (Row N 80) which was side view and restricted by the railing. I felt that there was quite a bit of the action where I was looking at the actor's back, so I wouldn't sit there again- saying that, I don't think I'll be prepared to spend much more to see this again, and the good seats are very pricey! I liked Owen Teale as Scrooge and the music and singing were lovely. In all, a great evening at the Old Vic as every year with Christmas Carol. Mince pies and satsumas have been handed out every year it has been staged.
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Post by andrew on Dec 26, 2022 19:27:41 GMT
Always a mince pie for me... My reflection on seeing this last year was how I'd overlooked how important the music is to this play. I wish there was a little cast album of all their really nicely arranged Christmas songs.
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Post by robertb213 on Dec 27, 2022 20:49:46 GMT
Has anyone sat in T6 of the stalls or high numbers of row P of the side-stalls? Trying to snap up a bargain, I don't mind if they're a bit restricted but can anyone recommend any of these (or confirm if they're rubbish!)
Thank you 😊
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Post by ceebee on Dec 30, 2022 23:34:23 GMT
Has anyone sat in T6 of the stalls or high numbers of row P of the side-stalls? Trying to snap up a bargain, I don't mind if they're a bit restricted but can anyone recommend any of these (or confirm if they're rubbish!) Thank you 😊 P side stalls is fine - closer than row T main stalls. If you're buying a single there are some good £40 options available through to 7 Jan final performance.
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Post by robertb213 on Dec 31, 2022 13:05:43 GMT
Has anyone sat in T6 of the stalls or high numbers of row P of the side-stalls? Trying to snap up a bargain, I don't mind if they're a bit restricted but can anyone recommend any of these (or confirm if they're rubbish!) Thank you 😊 P side stalls is fine - closer than row T main stalls. If you're buying a single there are some good £40 options available through to 7 Jan final performance. Thank you - the side stalls had gone by the time I booked so I went for the T6 main stalls in the end for last night's show, the legroom and view were pretty good for £35 😁
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Post by ceebee on Dec 31, 2022 20:35:25 GMT
P side stalls is fine - closer than row T main stalls. If you're buying a single there are some good £40 options available through to 7 Jan final performance. Thank you - the side stalls had gone by the time I booked so I went for the T6 main stalls in the end for last night's show, the legroom and view were pretty good for £35 😁 Hope you enjoyed it!
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Post by mrnutz on Jan 4, 2023 9:54:16 GMT
Saw this last night - my second visit after losing my Christmas Carol virginity to Stephen Mangan last year.
A very different viewpoint this time - sat in the main stalls rather than the side stage seats - so interesting to see things from another angle. Owen Teale was an excellent Scrooge and dealt very well with a short show stop in the first half where he had to run off to get his mic fixed.
It's an absolutely delightful production that I hope will run for years to come!
Some absolute rotters in the audience last night, though - a man in front snoring, one along his row who wouldn't stop talking at normal volume and checking his watch, and another in front of him who arrived very late, kept his headphones in and had to be told repeatedly to turn his phone off!
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Post by Steve on Jan 4, 2023 22:42:52 GMT
Saw this tonight for the umpteenth time, and it was like brand new, with Owen Teale now joint equal, for me, with Rhys Ifans, as my favourite Old Vic Scrooge. Just absolutely magical. Of the 5 Christmas Carols I've seen this holiday period, this is my favourite by a distance! This is also the only version in which I noticed kids in the audience jumping up and down for joy. Some spoilers follow. . . If "Christmas Carol-ish" at the Soho Theatre squandered great characters through indulgent and sloppy writing; if "Dolly Parton's Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol" depicted a Scrooge more lonely and ineffective than mean and destructive; if SRB's Bridge Christmas Carol was pared down but excellent storytelling; if the Rose Theatre's Oliver-inflected singing kids were a joy; nonetheless, none can hold a candle to the orchestra of malicious selfishness and sheer exuberant joy conducted by Owen Teale tonight! This production has everything: It has the bells, the bells that so beautifully ring out the Christmas Carols; It has strength in the ensemble, with Samuel Townsend and Lydia White, as a young Scrooge/Belle combo that would look and feel just right together in any BBC Jane Austen adaptation. It has a Scrooge spotlit, in the round, that accentuates a sense of sitting in judgement on him, but also which makes us complicit in his casual cruelties. For the kids, it has snow falling, and also the excitement of food being served on vertiginous slides; But above all, this production reinstates the majesty, for me, of the central performance, by having a Scrooge who is a force of nature, in his antisocial malevolence, but equally in his exuberant redemption. Until now, for me, only Rhys Ifans made the sheer distance from terrible to redeemed both absolutely enormous as well as simultaneously completely convincing. Owen Teale achieves this too, for me. While perhaps Ifans's fairy-like exuberance was even more charming, perhaps Teale's opening aggression is even more viciously malevolent. Both Ifans and Teale open up gaps in states of being that seem impossible to close, and then close them. I was in uncontrollable tears at the finale of this, just as I was the year this show was first performed. Absolutely wonderful. 5 stars from me.
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Post by ceebee on Jan 5, 2023 10:40:08 GMT
Saw this tonight for the umpteenth time, and it was like brand new, with Owen Teale now joint equal, for me, with Rhys Ifans, as my favourite Old Vic Scrooge. Just absolutely magical. Of the 5 Christmas Carols I've seen this holiday period, this is my favourite by a distance! This is also the only version in which I noticed kids in the audience jumping up and down for joy. Some spoilers follow. . . If "Christmas Carol-ish" at the Soho Theatre squandered great characters through indulgent and sloppy writing; if "Dolly Parton's Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol" depicted a Scrooge more lonely and ineffective than mean and destructive; if SRB's Bridge Christmas Carol was pared down but excellent storytelling; if the Rose Theatre's Oliver-inflected singing kids were a joy; nonetheless, none can hold a candle to the orchestra of malicious selfishness and sheer exuberant joy conducted by Owen Teale tonight! This production has everything: It has the bells, the bells that so beautifully ring out the Christmas Carols; It has strength in the ensemble, with Samuel Townsend and Lydia White, as a young Scrooge/Belle combo that would look and feel just right together in any BBC Jane Austen adaptation. It has a Scrooge spotlit, in the round, that accentuates a sense of sitting in judgement on him, but also which makes us complicit in his casual cruelties. For the kids, it has snow falling, and also the excitement of food being served on vertiginous slides; But above all, this production reinstates the majesty, for me, of the central performance, by having a Scrooge who is a force of nature, in his antisocial malevolence, but equally in his exuberant redemption. Until now, for me, only Rhys Ifans made the sheer distance from terrible to redeemed both absolutely enormous as well as simultaneously completely convincing. Owen Teale achieves this too, for me. While perhaps Ifans's fairy-like exuberance was even more charming, perhaps Teale's opening aggression is even more viciously malevolent. Both Ifans and Teale open up gaps in states of being that seem impossible to close, and then close them. I was in uncontrollable tears at the finale of this, just as I was the year this show was first performed. Absolutely wonderful. 5 stars from me. Thanks for your review Steve - I agree entirely and your words made me well up at the end, for I feel exactly the same way. This is such a special production, which I hope will continue to be revived for as long as people want to see it.
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Post by lookingatthestars on Jan 5, 2023 13:31:06 GMT
Saw this tonight for the umpteenth time, and it was like brand new, with Owen Teale now joint equal, for me, with Rhys Ifans, as my favourite Old Vic Scrooge. Just absolutely magical. Of the 5 Christmas Carols I've seen this holiday period, this is my favourite by a distance! This is also the only version in which I noticed kids in the audience jumping up and down for joy. Some spoilers follow. . . If "Christmas Carol-ish" at the Soho Theatre squandered great characters through indulgent and sloppy writing; if "Dolly Parton's Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol" depicted a Scrooge more lonely and ineffective than mean and destructive; if SRB's Bridge Christmas Carol was pared down but excellent storytelling; if the Rose Theatre's Oliver-inflected singing kids were a joy; nonetheless, none can hold a candle to the orchestra of malicious selfishness and sheer exuberant joy conducted by Owen Teale tonight! This production has everything: It has the bells, the bells that so beautifully ring out the Christmas Carols; It has strength in the ensemble, with Samuel Townsend and Lydia White, as a young Scrooge/Belle combo that would look and feel just right together in any BBC Jane Austen adaptation. It has a Scrooge spotlit, in the round, that accentuates a sense of sitting in judgement on him, but also which makes us complicit in his casual cruelties. For the kids, it has snow falling, and also the excitement of food being served on vertiginous slides; But above all, this production reinstates the majesty, for me, of the central performance, by having a Scrooge who is a force of nature, in his antisocial malevolence, but equally in his exuberant redemption. Until now, for me, only Rhys Ifans made the sheer distance from terrible to redeemed both absolutely enormous as well as simultaneously completely convincing. Owen Teale achieves this too, for me. While perhaps Ifans's fairy-like exuberance was even more charming, perhaps Teale's opening aggression is even more viciously malevolent. Both Ifans and Teale open up gaps in states of being that seem impossible to close, and then close them. I was in uncontrollable tears at the finale of this, just as I was the year this show was first performed. Absolutely wonderful. 5 stars from me. Thanks for your review Steve - I agree entirely and your words made me well up at the end, for I feel exactly the same way. This is such a special production, which I hope will continue to be revived for as long as people want to see it. I also agree, your review brought me right back to when I saw it a couple of weeks ago, and reading it made me feel emotional. Owen Teal was stunning in the central role
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Post by ceebee on Jan 7, 2023 17:15:33 GMT
Saw today's matinee and loved it as much as ever - pray that it returns again in November. In the meantime, thank you to all of the cast, musicians and crew for the seasonal magic! Usually i see the ginal performance of this, but tonight I am at the last performance of Come From Away.
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Post by c4ndyc4ne on Jan 7, 2023 17:22:53 GMT
think this will be back again in 23?
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Post by ceebee on Jan 7, 2023 19:12:00 GMT
think this will be back again in 23? I hope so - I've a hunch they will bring it back as it'll be the 180th anniversary in December.
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Post by ceebee on Jan 17, 2023 12:55:59 GMT
Confirmed today - A Christmas Carol returns to the Old Vic in November! Hurrah!!
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Post by digne on Jan 17, 2023 14:05:52 GMT
So happy, it has become my favourite Christmas ritual.
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Post by mrnutz on Jan 17, 2023 16:18:37 GMT
Yay!
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Post by alessia on Jan 17, 2023 17:56:25 GMT
So happy, it has become my favourite Christmas ritual. Mine too. Very happy it is coming back.
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Post by zahidf on Jun 19, 2023 9:02:03 GMT
Christopher Ecceleston as Scrooge this year
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Post by londonmzfitz on Jun 19, 2023 12:01:28 GMT
Adored this Tuesday night, and agree Owen Teale is a fabulous Scrooge, very good indeed. Was it always this ... short? Tuesday night I was out on the street by just gone 9.30pm ... And I also feel the staging has moved up - I might not have noticed but for the comment above. I've seen this every year, it moves me every time. Every single time. The staging, the superb lighting, it's all quite magical. Rhys Ifans will probably always be my favourite Scrooge as he was my first here at The Old Vic, but Owen Teale is a very, very close second. It's superb. I usually hold out for the PWC tickets but it's going to be manic with the new casting of Christopher Eccleston, so grabbed a couple of previews. Oh how I love this show. Might pop a last night in the basket too .. www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/christopher-eccleston-ebeneezer-scrooge-jack-thorne-rhys-ifans-andrew-lincoln-b2360163.html
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Post by David J on Jun 19, 2023 13:13:49 GMT
Anyone sat in P82-p83 in stalls? Says rail in eye line. Not too bothered as I've seen it nearly a dozen times but out of interest
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Post by foxa on Jun 19, 2023 13:34:19 GMT
I think Ecclestone will be brilliant in this.
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Post by sophia on Aug 23, 2023 8:12:43 GMT
Has anyone spotted any offers for this yet? This time last year I bought some stage seats reduced for London Theatre Week on TodayTix, but it doesn’t seem to be included in the sale this year (although plenty of stage seats are still available).
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Post by ceebee on Sept 12, 2023 11:11:40 GMT
Usual PWC ticket bunfight in motion right now then...
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Post by Being Alive on Sept 12, 2023 11:28:56 GMT
There's SO many PWC tickets though for this so like, logically most people should be fine
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Post by iwanttix on Sept 12, 2023 11:30:15 GMT
Got in the queue and was 3300 something so I'm assuming I won't be getting to the front 🤣
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Post by ceebee on Sept 12, 2023 11:31:56 GMT
There's SO many PWC tickets though for this so like, logically most people should be fine Are you being sarcastic? I read there were 5000 PWC seats in total, of which 2500 have been made available today, and there were 1900 people ahead of me in the queue... Presume the other 2500 will go on sale in a couple of weeks in a "if you missed out first time around " type post. Meanwhile, those who are unsuccessful will mop up seats at preview prices to avoid missing out...
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