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Peter Boyer and Donna Migliaccio in MetroStage's production

of "A Broadway Christmas Carol" (Photo by Colin Hovde)

Your lump of coal

Reading the largely unfavorable review of MetroStage's glorious production of "A Broadway Christmas Carol" ["A blah humbug from MetroStage," Style, Nov. 25] reminded me of why I enjoyed it so much when I saw it last month.

The reviewer grudgingly acknowledged some of the delightful shenanigans - and there are many more - that the multi-talented actors engaged in. But these were not enough to overcome her major objection to the production: the fact that it manages to "simultaneously lampoon and celebrate Charles Dickens' classic ghost story."

As a fan of both Dickens and Broadway tunes, I would not have it any other way. I found the combination of sentiment and satire to be - in the words of Goldilocks - just right.

Jo Ann Browning Seeley,

Alexandria

What The Audience Members Are Saying

"Excellent acting and singing, very talented people. Loved the piano player. The songs were great with clever take-offs on broadway hits. Really enjoyed the show. Not like the typical Christmas fare. Lots and lots of fun. MetroStage never lets me down!" - Anonymous

"Okay, I literally just got home from seeing this show and found [the Washington Post's] review in my inbox (because I run a blog about Dickens, I have a Google News Alert on his name). And I think we must have seen two different shows, because I thought it was brilliant. The songs fit perfectly, the rewritten lyrics were hilarious, and the cast handled it all beautifully. I had a blast and would love to see it again." - Gina D.

"This was a fantastic production. If you want to laugh, this is a must-go-see." - Anonymous

What The Critics Are Saying

Click on the image to enlarge

Review by Bob Anthony from AllArtsReview4U

The holidays opened with a "bang" with MetroStage's "A BROADWAY CHRISTMAS CAROL" (To 12/19) which one hopes would last through 2011! Three highly professional comedy singers (Matthew A. Anderson/Peter Boyer/Donna Migliaccio) present parodies of Broadway tunes adapting them to the script of the old chestnut "A Christmas Carol" with Scrooge and his cohorts. The costumes changes are fast and furious as these three must switch into many characterizations...it must be not unlike the "Tuna Folks" with the dressers backstage. Anyway, it is a howl every minute as this zany tale about the old miser is recreated with so many farcical bits. Thanks also goes to the book and lyrics by Kathy Feininger and the superb comedy direction by Larry Kaye. Aaron Broderick was superb at the lone piano but even he plays his bit parts well. Janine Gulisano does wonders with the period costumes and Allison Campbell does a superb Christmas set to get one into the holiday mood. Nancy Harry gets kudos for her fine choreography which is half of the fun of the show. This is a highly recommended show that word-of-mouth should prove a sell-out. So get those tickets as holiday presents.

Press/ Opening Night - Sunday, November 21

Sandra Buratti, Richard Gutting and Jimmie CookTrudy Levy, Jeanne Theismann and Sally Cooper

An Audience Member's Review

MetroStage's "Carol" is just fun, and funny. Yes, it weds Dickens's classic "Carol" with Broadway tunes, lyrics re-written. Dickens would have sharpened his writing if he had known that Kathy Feininger and Donna Migliaccio were going to get his story into a half-nelson then tickle it.

Arrive early (its general admission, and some patrons will have their view obscured by the on-stage piano), and feast your eyes on the set. Allison Campbell used an elf's paintbox to create a colorful Christmas-time treat. Just sit for a few minutes . . . and enjoy. Pick up a few pointers for the color scheme in the den.

Donna Migliaccio is an award-winning force of nature. She reminds us that not all terrific comediennes are going to get the Mark Twain prize. Just wait until you see her act the role of . . . a doorknob!

I see from the notes that Migliaccio toured in the 50th anniversary version of "Guys and Dolls." That would explain her knock-'em-dead rendition of "Belle's Lament" which was borrowed from Miss Adelaide. As for her Mae West in chains, well, you'll just have to go up and see it sometime. Terrific. Ditto her Peggy Lee who – what else? – is seeking alms for the poor.

If I had daughters who wanted to work on the stage (wait! I do), I would want them to see Miss Migliaccio's work. Her joie de vivre and talent are infectious and, perhaps, inspiring. Theater majors and acting classes, take note, and get the ticket office on the phone.

Matt Anderson is a pal of mine, so everything I write about him is colored by the fact that I am uttering the absolute truth. His Ghost of Christmas Past is a hoot, and he wields his prop to perfect effect. (Hint about the prop: four tennis balls.) His take on "Annie" and his role as Tiny Tim are perfect, and he has set a pole-vaulter's high bar in his pas de deux with a chandelier. Note the small touches in that scene: energy-efficient bulbs and a traditional, Home-Depot-aisle-14 extension cord in this season’s fashionable color, road-cone orange.

If you are a delicate soul, prepare to be stirred by some politically incorrect lines about Tiny Tim's disability. On the other hand, being politically incorrect, funny, and brightly performed gets the lines a triple word score. (Can someone check to see if Miss Feininger, the author, is still in residence at the Sunny Valley Care Facility for madcap playwrights? I would hate to think she had been turned loose to drop another script like this on an unsuspecting, but grateful, public.)

There was some ad hoc-ery between Anderson and Migliaccio in the performance I saw – and there ought to be more (even if the ad hoc-ery needs to be scripted!). These two work beautifully together in what might be called slapdashitude, squared. They have been on the same stage before, and they'll be together at Ford's Theatre in the spring, and this synergy ought to be encouraged by all theater-goers.

Peter Boyer is Scrooge. He is said to be "introduced" by this play, as if he had been discovered waiting tables in Old Town. No. He has been perfecting his craft in Baltimore.

When the call went out for two zany actors and one rock-solid nucleus that the zanies could revolve around, he answered the call for the nucleus. He combines that always-on-stage stability with a sense of humor and a fine voice. His acting in the early scenes (before the ghosts-of-silliness get hold of him) makes you think that he is sour enough to be Marley's penurious partner.

Aaron Broderick provides the music, but don't miss his helpful, long-fingered contributions for the Ghost of Christmas Future...

Congratulations to Larry Kaye (Director) and Nancy Harry (Choreographer) for getting this madcap trio to move around the stage with brio and relatively few collisions -- which is not to say that more collisions might not be even more fun! (One of my favorite bits of business is Migliaccio playing a boat's figurehead – although the prop manager might need to oil those wheels. I don't know if her acting is improved by having to work like a stage hand with that "boat.")..."

This is a personal review (written without request and certainly without remuneration of any sort) by Lincoln Oliphant on November 20, 2010. The author sent it to MetroStage and asked them to post it on their site, as he thought potential ticket buyers would find it useful. The author is proud of his reputation (just created) as an independent – yet incisive – critic, and any attempt to influence his judgment or any monetary offer, from any source whatever, whether high or low, whether Hollywood or Podunk, will be strictly reviewed for amount.

Notes from the Producer

A legendary Washington tradition is returning. "A Broadway Christmas Carol," the classic Dickens’ tale told using uproarious parodies of favorite Broadway show tunes, is returning to the area this month. And this time it will be in Alexandria. After seven years of sold- out performances in Silver Spring, Md., ending in 2004, "A Broadway Christmas Carol" is returning to the area to be performed at MetroStage beginning Nov. 18 and running through the holidays.

MetroStage is delighted to be bringing it back to its loyal audience and introducing it to a new wave of theatregoers who are looking for holiday entertainment and who also just happen to love Broadway musicals and anything that parodies the most beloved songs of that great Broadway tradition. (The MetroStage production of "Musical of Musicals (The Musical!)," which was a parody of five renowned Broadway composers, broke all box office records not once but twice!)

CLICK HERE to read entire article from the Alexandria Gazette Packet >

Special Added Performance

A delicious holiday treat, A Broadway Christmas Carol tells the classic Dickens' tale with uproarious parodies of your favorite Broadway show tunes.

A legendary Washington tradition returns (seven straight sold-out seasons at Round House Theatre, last seen in 2004) with an all star new cast, featuring "the one and only" Donna Migliaccio, with Matt Anderson, one of her co-conspirators in The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!) and introducing Peter Boyer as Scrooge.

Laugh out loud, roll in the aisles funny. Call now for tickets and start a new holiday tradition at MetroStage.

SPECIAL ADDED PERFORMANCE

Wednesday, November 24 at 7pm

All tickets for this added performance: $25

Call 800-494-8497

or CLICK HERE to order tickets online.

Tickets are now available for A Broadway Christmas Carol

By Kathy Feininger
Directed by Larry Kaye
Choreographed by Nancy Harry

Christmas just got a whole lot funnier! A delicious cross between the classic Dickens tale and uproarious song parodies of your favorite Broadway show tunes, this irreverent and boisterous alternative to traditional holiday fare will leave you rolling in the aisles! With the creative team from The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!).

PAY-WHAT-YOU-CAN PREVIEW
($10 minimum expected, more greatly accepted)
Thursday, November 18 at 8pm

Please come directly to the theater

and check in with the Box Office upon arrival.
Box office opens one hour prior to performance.
Seating is general admission. Space is limited.

PREVIEW PERFORMANCES
Friday, November 19 at 8pm
Saturday, November 20 at 3 & 8pm
Sunday, November 21 at 3pm

$25 tickets are available from BoxOfficeTickets.com.
USE CODE: Preview

OPENING/ PRESS NIGHT:

Sunday, November 21 at 7pm

Performances:

Thursdays & Fridays at 8pm,
Saturdays at 3 & 8pm
and Sundays at 3 & 7pm
(No show on Thanksgiving)

Tickets:

$45-50 (Students: $25)

Special Added Performance:

Wednesday, November 24 at 7pm

All tickets for this added performance: $25

Tickets are available by calling 800-494-8497
or CLICK HERE to order online.

Announcing the cast of A Broadway Christmas Carol

Matthew A. Anderson (The Man Who Isn't Scrooge) took part in MetroStage's raucous revival of The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!) and will be seen in Glimpses of the Moon this Fall. Mr. Anderson has also worked locally with the Kennedy Center (Youth and Family Programs as well as Shear Madness), Theater J, Signature Theatre, Imagination Stage, and Ford’s Theatre. This Summer, he is currently taking part in the exciting new musical Super Claudio Bros: A Video Game Musical for the 2010 Capital Fringe Festival.

Peter Boyer (Scrooge) is currently on stage with the Baltimore Shakespeare Festival for their Summer outdoor productions: The Comedy of Errors and Moliere's Scapine. He recently was seen in Sylvia at Bay Theatre and A Chorus Line (Zach) at Howard Community College, where he taught an acting course last Fall. He directed A Spell of Cold Weather for the Red Branch Theatre. REGIONAL: Olney Theatre: 1776 (Lyman Hall); Ford's Theater: Shenandoah (Sgt. Johnson); Imagination Stage: Heidi, Sleeping Beauty; Theatre IV: The Secret Garden (Archibald Craven). Mr. Boyer has also done the occasional commercial/ industrial/ extra work.

Donna Migliaccio (The Woman Who Isn't Scrooge) reprised her role as radical anarchist Emma Goldman in Ragtime at Broadway's Neil Simon Theater last Fall, a role she first played in the Kennedy Center's critically-acclaimed production. KENNEDY CENTER: Broadway: Three Generations, The Brand New Kid and Sunday in the Park with George. NATIONAL TOUR: Guys and Dolls - 50th Anniversary (General Cartwright). REGIONAL: Theatre on the Square, San Francisco: DirtyBlonde; Philadelphia Theatre Company: Elegies: A Song Cycle; Arden Theatre, Philadelphia: The Dinosaur Musical - world premiere; Signature Theatre: Assassins, Urinetown, Sweeney Todd, Pacific Overtures; Theater J: Shlemiel the First; Ford's Theater: A Christmas Carol. She is a two-time Helen Hayes Award winner and recipient of ten additional nominations, including one for her performance in MetroStage's original production of The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!). UPCOMING: Ruthless! (Totem Pole Playhouse), Sabrina Fair and Liberty Smith (Ford's Theater).