(Cover Photo: The CAST of Christopher Durang's "MRS. BOB CRATCHIT'S WILD CHRISTMAS BINGE" presented by Worcester County Light Opera Company in Worcester, MA. through December 15, 2024. Photo Credit: Amy DeMar-Dubois)

By Kevin T. Baldwin

METRMAG Reviewer

# 774-242-6724

“Look, children, straight from the filthy, stinking Thames River. Mother’s brought home a fish. How’d you all like fish for Christmas dinner?”

                    - ("Mrs. Bob Cratchit") / Christopher Durang

Worcester Count Light Opera Company

Presents Christopher Durang's  

"MRS. BOB CRATCHIT'S WILD CHRISTMAS BINGE"

Written by Christopher Durang

Directed by Paul R. Dixon

Cast Includes: Pat Delano as “Cratchit Child # 1, Young Jacob Marley, Zuzu Bailey, Serena the Maid,” Abby Duell as “Mrs. Bob Cratchit,” Jeffrey Fleming as “Tiny Tim, Fezziwig Daughter # 1,” Erik Johnsen as “Gentleman # 1, Mr. Fezziwig, The Beadle, Bartender # 2,”Brendan McGee as “Jacob Marley’s Ghost, Bartender # 1, Clarence (The Angel),” David Nestelbaum as “Gentleman # 2, Edvar, George Bailey,” Samantha Piette as “Mrs. Fezziwig, The Beadle’s Wife, Little Nell Cratchit,” Kyle Rano as “Cratchit Child # 2, Young Ebenezer,” Peter Russo as “Ebenezer Scrooge,” Robin Shropshire as “The Ghost of Christmas Past, Present and Future,” George Smith as “Bob Cratchit,” Margo Thompson as “Fezziwig Daughter # 2, Hedwig, Monica (The Angel), The Nice Mrs. Cratchit.”

Additional Creative Team:

Producers - Sally Holden, Rachel Savage Burr; Stage Manager - Nick Doig, Ashton Lubin; Set Design - Ed Savage; Scenic Artist - Michael Nosel; Set Construction - Ed Savage, Rob Lynds, Jay Clark; Lighting Design - Vic Kruczynski; Sound Design - Ed Savage, Vic Kruczynski; Costume Design - Andrea Davulis, Emily Mercier; Costume Assistant - Jo Ann Savage; Props - Jay Cark; Dance/Music Assistants - Abby Duell, George Smith.

Performances: 

December 6, 2024 through December 15, 2024

(Contact Box Office for Exact Times)  

WORCESTER COUNTY LIGHT OPERA COMPANY (WCLOC), Grandview Ave. Playhouse, 21 Grandview Avenue, Worcester, MA.

TICKETS: 

508-753-4383 or visit admin@wcloc.org

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COVID 19 PROTOCOLS

Contact Venue for Most Updated COVID-19 Safety Protocols and Information.

Worcester County Light Opera Company (WCLOC) injects a massive dose of “bah humbug” into the holidays with the whimsical-but-weird black comedy "MRS. BOB CRATCHIT'S WILD CHRISTMAS BINGE."

This is a re-imagining of the Charles Dickens’ “Christmas Carol” story that is truly unlike anything you might have ever seen before. 

Imagine for a moment: You are engaged in your family's fifty-seventh viewing of “A Muppet Christmas Carol.” 

More specific, you are watching the end of the scene where a reformed Scrooge appears (with a Muppet crowd of thousands) at the door of the Cratchit family.

Just as Scrooge announces his intention to raise Bob Cratchit’s salary, Miss Piggy as Mrs. Cratchit retorts “…and I’m gonna raise you right off the pavement.” 

One of the funniest lines in the movie, right?

In many “Christmas Carol” incarnations, the character of Mrs. Cratchit serves very little to the story, not having much to say or do. 

Yet, in other adaptations, she has been interpreted and/or portrayed as nearly the bitter, acerbic equivalent of the miserly Scrooge himself. 

With "MRS. BOB CRATCHIT'S WILD CHRISTMAS BINGE," Christopher Durang (the celebrated playwright who passed away just this past April) seems to have taken that later premise and has elevated it to an outlandish, outrageous and occasionally vindictive level. 

The parody, coming from the celebrated author of “Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You,” “Beyond Therapy” and the crowd-pleaser “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” yields quite a few laughs but, unfortunately, it may require one to be in a hallucinatory state in order to best appreciate Durang’s rather bleak(house) sense of humor.   

There are some who absolutely will not get the rather grimly absurdist comic approach taken here and they have valid concerns because, while there are some truly funny moments, a number of Durang’s punchlines land with a thud.   

"MRS. BOB CRATCHIT'S WILD CHRISTMAS BINGE" made its stage debut in 2002 at the City Theatre in Pittsburgh.   

Written and released as a musical, the intent of the music in this show seems not to want to delight but rather disturb audiences and, by golly - it certainly succeeds. 

(Photo: George Smith as “Bob Cratchit,” Peter Russo as “Ebenezer Scrooge,” Erik Johnsen as “Gentleman #1" and David Nestelbaum as “Gentleman # 2," in a scene from Christopher Durang's "MRS. BOB CRATCHIT'S WILD CHRISTMAS BINGE" presented by Worcester County Light Opera Company in Worcester, MA. through December 15, 2024. Photo Credit: Amy DeMar-Dubois)

In the WCLOC production of Durang’s bizarre version of the “Christmas Carol” tale, staged by director Paul R. Dixon, Scrooge has one Ghost (Robin Shropshire) that also serves as our guide through the entire story, manifested as all three Spirits of Christmases Past, Present and Future. 

However, something is wrong as the Ghost’s magic falters way off the mark. 

In her intent to transport Scrooge back to his days working for the Fezziwigs, she inadvertently lands Scrooge (Peter Russo) at Bob Cratchit’s house. 

Here is where we first meet the beleaguered Mrs. Bob Cratchit (Abby Duell), at the apex of her long-suffering Dickensian London familial existence. 

With already more children than she knows what to do with, well-meaning spouse Bob ( marvelously played by George Smith) brings home more. 

With no place to keep them all, some are “kept” in the Cratchit cellar (don’t think too long as to why this perplexing plot point exists – it is far too strange for words). 

Reaching her last straw, Mrs. Cratchit explodes into a tirade, declaring how much she hates her life. 

Mrs. Cratchit announces to her family that she plans to get blind drunk and end it all by jumping off the London Bridge.   

If that last part seems vaguely like the penultimate subplot to “It’s A Wonderful Life,” go with the feeling as there are numerous intersections with that story along with confusing nods to other Dickens’ tales.   

There is even “Wonderful Life” Angel Clarence (well played by Brendan McGee) who tries to help the Ghost during Act Two. 

(Photo: Robin Shropshire as “The Ghost of Christmas Past, Present and Future,” with Peter Russo as “Ebenezer Scrooge,” in a scene from Christopher Durang's "MRS. BOB CRATCHIT'S WILD CHRISTMAS BINGE" presented by Worcester County Light Opera Company in Worcester, MA. through December 15, 2024. Photo Credit: Amy DeMar-Dubois)

The WCLOC show is elevated thanks to the robust performances given by Duell, Russo and Shropshire. 

The above trio is well-supported by several engaging WCLOC performances from the cast, including:   

Kyle Rano as “Young Ebenezer” and “Cratchit Child # 2” (appropriate as he is treated throughout most of the story like “# 2” by his mother); 

Jeffrey Fleming, scene stealing as the annoyingly ever-optimistic “Tiny Tim”; 

Samantha Piette as a rather peculiar Mrs. Fezziwig and Little Nell Cratchit, who seems to be the target of unending mean-spirited barbs hurled at her by Mrs. Cratchit; 

Erik Johnsen as both “Mr. Fezziwig” and “The Beadle,” and; 

David Nestelbaum who has an unforgettable cameo as “George Bailey.”   

(Photo: Jeffrey Fleming as “Tiny Tim" with George Smith as “Bob Cratchit” in a scene from Christopher Durang's "MRS. BOB CRATCHIT'S WILD CHRISTMAS BINGE" presented by Worcester County Light Opera Company in Worcester, MA. through December 15, 2024. Photo Credit: Amy DeMar-Dubois)

The overall premise is insane, but the energy level at the December 7^th performance seemed to be lacking as jokes designed to punctuate the level of insanity just did not land. 

The sheer venom of each and every line uttered by Scrooge and Mrs. Cratchit should fly as quick and as crude as punchlines from a Neil Simon comedy or an episode of “Family Guy” and instead, during the performance, fell flat. 

Durang’s script tends to also come up lacking as the supporting “music” feels not required, certainly adding nothing to the story. 

The above is true with the ONE exception of a bit involving “Silent Night” offered by the Cratchit family yielded some of the biggest laughs of the evening. 

The single set design for "MRS. BOB CRATCHIT'S WILD CHRISTMAS BINGE" was impressive with a cleverly used “secret passage bookcase” on stage left. 

Costumes for the WCLOC staging were appropriate for the time-period, with the cast impressing at making some rather abrupt costume changes (many performed at an absurdly required speed). 

(Photo: The CAST of Christopher Durang's "MRS. BOB CRATCHIT'S WILD CHRISTMAS BINGE" presented by Worcester County Light Opera Company in Worcester, MA. through December 15, 2024. Photo Credit: Amy DeMar-Dubois)

Again, while diehard (not a Christmas movie, btw) fans of Durang may enjoy, others still may conclude that this particular entry from Durang's impressive catalog does not approach the level of his far superior material. 

With that, though, the WCLOC cast certainly makes a valiant attempt to bring the funny to the stage and, judging by the laughter from the audience, succeed.   

"MRS. BOB CRATCHIT'S WILD CHRISTMAS BINGE" continues in Worcester at WCLOC until December 15^th and if you seek an alternative to many of the cookie-cutter Christmas shows that tend to suffocate the holiday season… yeah – this should fit the bill. 

Coming up next at WCLOC will be the play “GOOD PEOPLE” by David Lindsay-Abaire beginning February 7^th, 2025.

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Approximately two hours with one intermission.

Kevin T. Baldwin is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA)

@MetrmagReviews

@Theatre_Critics

ABOUT THE SHOW

In this departure from Dickens, young Scrooge’s exclamations of “Bah, humbug!” are an undiagnosed “kind of seasonal Tourette’s Syndrome,” and The Ghost of Christmas Past is played by a sassy African-American woman with enough attitude to portray all three spirits (which she does). 

She tries to show Scrooge his past, present and future in order to change him, but her magic keeps malfunctioning in Durang’s version of the beloved holiday classic, and they consistently find themselves transported to the wrong time and place. 

She tries to take Scrooge back to see his old employers, the Fezziwigs— “always an audience favorite” —but instead she and Scrooge keep appearing in the present at the Cratchit’s pathetic home. 

Mrs. Bob Cratchit, a minor character in the Dickens, takes center stage here. No longer loving and long suffering, Mrs. Bob is in a rage: 

She’s sick of Tiny Tim (the goody-goody crippled child), she hates her twenty other children (most of them confined to the root cellar), including oversized Little Nell, and she wants to get drunk and jump off London Bridge. 

As the Ghost loses more control, the plot morphs into parodies of "Oliver Twist," “The Gift of the Magi” and "It’s a Wonderful Life." 

And to make matters worse, Scrooge and Mrs. Bob seem to be kindred souls falling in love. 

With a dénouement that is two parts "Touched by an Angel" and one part "The Queen of Mean," Scrooge’s tale of redemption and gentle grace is placed squarely on its head. (Dramatists Play Service)

ABOUT WORCESTER COUNTY LIGHT OPERA COMPANY (WCLOC)

Founded in 1937, WCLOC is Worcester’s oldest active theater company. As a local, non-profit community theater, we depend on the generosity of our members, patrons, subscribers, and donors to help forward the mission of our organization to entertain, inform, and nurture local artists and audiences through the production of high quality, affordable musicals, plays, and children’s educational workshops. A donation to WCLOC allows us to continue to keep tickets affordable for local audiences, helps us maintain and make necessary improvements to our Clubhouse, and supports a full season of memorable theater and educational opportunities.

WORCESTER COUNTY LIGHT OPERA COMPANY
P.O. Box # 51
Worcester, MA. 01613
# 508-753-4383
admin@wcloc.org