A Christmas Carol being one of my all-time favorite books, I had to watch the musical version last night on NBC. At the time, maybe because I was so tired, it seemed not horrible. Thinking about it today though, it is getting more awful as the day goes on.
Kelsey Grammer was okay I suppose, though why he had to hunch so I am not sure. Jason Alexander’s time on the screen was mercifully short – ick. Jesse L. Martin as the ghost of Christmas present? I think it is interesting casting to have a black guy in the role, but couldn’t they find one who can sing? yeeeeesh!
I understand that all the music necessitated the compressing of other story elements, but having the Crachitts and the nephew live on the same street was a stretch too far. They could have left out the dancing nutcracker/soldier bit and had Scrooge take a bit more of a hike to get to Christmas dinner.
It made me grateful for my DVD of the George C. Scott version to offset the memory.
