Sunday, 11 December 2022

Scrooge - A Christmas Carol OST (Netflix Movie Musical)


2 WEEKS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!

Stream Scrooge - A Christmas Carol soundtrack here (Spotify)

A new adaptation of Charles Dickens classic novel, A Christmas Carol, is as inevitable at Christmas as Starbucks redesigning the red cups and upping the price of their festive drinks menu. Over the years there have been some indelible classic interpretations (The Muppet Christmas Carol, Scrooged and Disney's Jim Carrey starring A Christmas Carol). This year, there are two musical versions - very different in their interpretation of the source material. Spirited (Apple TV) is almost A Christmas Carol 2: What Happened Next, wherease Netflix's Scrooge - A Christmas Carol reinvents the story as a stage musical in cartoon form. Director Stephen Donnelly (who also co-wrote the music/film with the late great Leslie Bricusse) seems to have an eye for how this could be transformed into the next glittering holiday family musical (akin to Elf and Nativity: The Musical) - here are just some of the highlights:
  • The colour palate of the film is just glorious. Victorian London is a vibrant setting, bustling with the tangible joy of the approaching season. This makes for the first of some bold, sometimes audacious deviations from classic versions - but the effect is so charming that even Scrooge's colourful world is a delight.
  • Giving Scrooge a pet dog (the moral compass of Prudence) is another daring move - some will argue that the isolation of the main character is what drives his curmudgeon behaviour, but the addition of a dog makes this more accessible for younger folk whilst also providing some comic relief. 
  • For me, it was all about the songs - and the opening number (I Love Christmas) should be Broadway/West End bound for a Christmas 2023 run (if there's any justice in the world). Fra Fee (as Scrooge's nephew, Harry Huffman) delivers a sparkling uptempo ensemble number, infused with traditional carols, choirs and a hook so ridiculously catchy you'll be singing it until new year's day.
  • Johnny Flynn (as Bob Cratchit) gives us Christmas Children, a more traditional sounding carol that has a magical, ethereal quality to it. His deep voice resonates and is the anchor of emotion through an opulent wall of sound that brings to life the magic of the night before the big day. He's a natural narrator of stories and shares this one with a wondrous melodic finesse.
  • (It is worth pointing out here that the animated cast are all uniformly good looking. Young Scrooge is an absolute dish whilst older Scrooge is a silver fox. Good genes run in his family as his nephew Harry would get a swipe right and you can see why Mrs Cratchit chose to get Bob down the aisle tout de suite. It is a Christmas thirst fest with the hottest animated men since Flynn Rider in Tangled)!
  • Luke Evans does a splendiferous job as a conflicted, cantankerous Ebeneezer Scrooge. He is suitably odious when he needs to be, but there is also a humanity to him via different motivations for wanting to be financially secure (and his relationship with Prudence who is his Judge Judy to his distasteful actions). Before I get onto Luke's songs, a reminder that there are a couple of Christmas songs on his current album you can read about here. 
  • Luke's two solo numbers bookend his redemption journey - Tell Me is suitably haunting and selfish, delivered in sneering fashion with a phenomenal crescendo moment. Luke understands performance, imbuing each note with the right level of emotion to give it maximum impact. I'll Begin Again occurs at the end of his ghostly experience and is not only a beautifully hopeful number but an evocative demonstration of Luke's range. 
  • Luke's duets with Jessie Buckley (as Isabel Fezziwig) are, as you would expect from a former Gaston and former Sally Bowles), west end gold. Happiness captures a relationship full of hope and opportunity with whimsical instrumentation and a genuine warmth pouring from every note (aided by some lovely piano on this number); conversely, the embers of a fractured relationship are ever present on Later Never Comes. The piano is used to more melancholy effect here, swathing the tale of disappointment and resentment in elegiac, icy beauty. Jessie is soaring here, singing with a passion to give her the conviction to walk away. Sniffle.
  • More luminary stars of stage are lending their voice to the movie and soundtrack - London's Genie (from Aladdin), Trevor Dion Nicholas, excels as the Ghost of Christmas Present with his dance-laden number I Like Life (a song he injects with a level of joyous personality so tangible you can reach out and touch it); meanwhile London's Aaron Burr (Hamilton), Giles Terera gets to revel in the future death of Scrooge with such glee that even Ebeneezer gets caught up in the glory of the song. Play Thank You Very Much next to musical songs like Oom Pah Pah, Master of the House and Flash Bang Wallop.
  • The kids get some effervescent, heart tugging solo moments too - Jemima Lucy Newman (as Ebeneezer's sister Jen) shares her Christmas Wishes via a music box style ballad; Oliver Jenkins (as Tiny Tim) blesses everyone with The Beautiful Day. Both emit that child like innocence that so often gets lost - and even the most cynical listener will find the magic of Christmas all over again. Makes you glad from head to (mistle)toe.
**Ghosts of Christmas past**
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