Musicals on TV - A Christmas Carol: The Musical

Hallmark Entertainment/NBC, 2004
Starring Kelsey Grammer, Jane Krakowski, Edward Gower, and Jesse L. Martin
Directed by Arthur Allen Sederman
Music by Alan Menken; Lyrics by Lynn Aherns

The early years of television coincided with the Golden Age of Stage Musicals in the 1950's and 60's. Barely a year went by between roughly 1950 and 1969 without at least one new musical appearing on TV, either a live adaptation of a Broadway show, or more rarely, an original work. While this died down by the early 70's, musicals began to turn up more frequently again about a decade ago. This one was adapted from a long-running mid-90's hit that ran at the theater at Madison Square Garden in midtown New York and made into NBC's big holiday event for 2004. Let's head to the London Exchange to see how Scrooge is getting on...and how different this retelling is from other versions of this story...

The Story: Ebeneezer Scrooge (Grammer) is the most miserly man in London. He refuses to help a poor family, only grudgingly gives his clerk Bob Cratchit (Gower) Christmas Day off, and tells his nephew Fred (Julian Ovenden) that he will not dine with him on Christmas. He doesn't want anything to do with the holiday, charity, or people. A female lamplighter, a barker for a pantomime, and a beggar woman all warn Scrooge that he needs to change his ways. He doesn't consider it...until the ghost of his late partner Jacob Marley (Jason Alexander) turns up with a group of ghouls who insist that Scrooge will become one of them if he doesn't change soon.

The Ghost of Christmas Past (Krakowski) arrives first, showing Scrooge his troubled days as a poor youth whose father was arrested for his debts. He insists that his son make a fortune and hang onto it. Scrooge finally makes his way to old Fezziwig's (Brian Bedford) bank, where he falls in love with the beautiful Emily (Jennifer Love Hewitt). After the death of his mother, and then his sister, he throws himself into his lending business...at the expense of his relationships. He buys Fezziwig out and loses Emily, and then Marley when he dies at the office.

The boisterous Ghost of Christmas Present (Martin) has a happier vision for Scrooge. He takes him to see his nephew Fred's party and the Cratchit family's tender and happy meal. Scrooge is especially taken by their small cripped son Tim (Jacob Collier). He's shocked when the ethereal Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come (Geraldine Chaplin) shows him a future that's less than pleasant - if he doesn't reform, he'll die, unmourned and unloved. But perhaps there's hope for Scrooge after all..

The Song and Dance: I really like some of the ideas on display here. The Wizard of Oz-like use of the lamplighter, barker, and beggar to double as the ghosts and reveal Scrooge's feelings of guilt actually works pretty well with the story. Jesse L. Martin has a blast as the Ghost of Christmas Present, and Gower and Linzi Hateley are lovely as the Cratchit parents. I also like that they work in some details that other family-oriented adaptations leave out, like the ragged Want and Ignorance children under the Ghost of Christmas Present's cloak, the ghouls appearing with Marley, and the emphasis on Scrooge's sister.

Favorite Number: The Cratchit family gets two good ones. Tim and Bob sing the charming "You Mean More to Me" as they shop for Christmas dinner, and the family sings "Christmas Together" when they're having their much-anticipated meal.  The best of the chorus numbers is the well-choreographed "Mr. Fezziwig's Annual Christmas Ball," with it's leaping dancers and whirling couples.

What I Didn't Like: First of all, other than the songs I just mentioned, the score just isn't that memorable. The opening chorus number "Jolly Good Time" is especially bland. "Abundance and Charity," with Martin and the Rockettes, is basically there to give the dancers something to do. Marley's "Link By Link" is actually pretty good...until we get to the dancing ghouls, with rattling chains and rolling heads. They look like six dancing Beetlejuices. What was wrong with the book version, with Scrooge staring out the window and seeing wandering ghosts?

For that matter, what was wrong with the book version of Scrooge's past? Scrooge being a child neglected by his father because his mother died giving birth to him suits the story far better. It feels like they gave Scrooge Charles Dickens' real-life back story instead, and it's just too much. And I know Jane Krakowski is quite attractive, but did her number really need to involve pole dancing around Scrooge's bed, and what was with the skimpy costume? She didn't look like a Ghost. She looked like she got lost on the way to Las Vegas.

The Future segment is even more off. It feels rushed, like they just wanted to get the whole thing out of the way in three numbers or less. Geraldine Chapman looks more like the book Ghost of Christmas Past than Future. (Admittedly, Grammer, who pretty much sleepwalks through this movie, does seem to wake up for this segment; his performance of "Yesterday, Tomorrow, and Today" is truly impassioned and is by far his best moment.)

The Big Finale: Might make nice background music while working on your Christmas cookies if it's on TV or online, and it's not bad for fans of Grammer or the songwriters. Otherwise, it's nothing you need to go out of your way to see.

Home Media: It's currently out-of-print on disc; your best bet is likely digging it up on cable or on streaming services like Amazon Prime (where it's free with the service).

DVD
Amazon Prime