Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center (Hollywood, CA)
The Kodak Theatre at Hollywood and Highland presents an all-star production of A Christmas Carol, starring John Goodman, Jane Leeves, and Christopher Lloyd as Scrooge. In this Dickens classic, an old miser has an incredible change of heart over the course of one night after being visited by ghosts from Christmas past, present and future.
Event summary prepared by the Goldstar Editorial Team.
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The last date listed for A Christmas Carol was Sunday January 4, 2009 / 3:00pm. (view all dates)
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This is a fun Christmas show in a beautiful venue. That said, it was opening night, and the show definitely had technical problems. At times the technical issues made the show rather uncomfortable, because there were long pauses where nothing was happening or awkward moments with a star stranded on stage awaiting a set change. That said, the crowd was supportive and laughed off the issues, and the actors stayed in character and rolled with it. The performances were good, and the technical issues didn't bother me, because that's just part of a live experience -- things can go wrong. Made it kind of unpredictably funny.
Bah Humbug! Don’t waste your money. This production needs a bailout. Our party of three had certainly hoped for a splendid evening at the Kodak. Starting about a quarter-hour late, both in opening the doors and starting the play, nothing seemed to flow smoothly. One person in our party taught “A Christmas Carol” in high school English for four decades. He knows the characters’ lines very well. Unfortunately, Christopher Lloyd was not yet rehearsed enough to know his lines. A special appearance by Gene Wilder was non-existent, since later on in the production the producers decided it would not be effective. Certainly not intended, stagehands could be seen behind the curtains moving props along with opening and closing curtains. In Stave II (as the program identified the second scene), when Scrooge arrives home, he stands for a while at the door, then he walks around to the back of the house prop. The audience then hears “The door won’t open.” At Stave IV, the curtain fails to rise for an inordinate amount of time, while Mr. Lloyd tries a bit of ad-libbing. When finally the curtain rises, the audience applauds. At intermission, we decided we had seen enough and left. We have seen better prepared productions at high school plays. Oh, by the way, Jane Seymour withdrew after “contracting a severe bronchial infection.” Perhaps she felt it unwise to have a credit for having been in this production. The narrator sounded as though he was doing an impersonation of Sir John Gielgud. Oh, by the way, the Kodak is simply gorgeous.
Sad to say, it was disappointing. Christopher Lloyd was terrific but the rest of the cast rather flat.
Taking the edge off the entire experience was the fact that the A/C ran the whole time, making us feel the Dickens London entirely too realistically. It was actually colder in the theatre than outside.
The continuity between scenes was quite slow, with long moments of silence and darkness on the stage. Not a good thing.
Sorry.
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Kodak Theatre is the crown jewel of the Hollywood and Highland entertainment complex located in the heart of historic Hollywood. Since opening in November 2001, the theatre has hosted a range of prestigious artists and events including the Academy Awards? Ceremonies, Celine Dion, Prince, Elvis Costello, Barry Manilow, American Ballet Theatre, Moscow Stanislavsky Ballet, AFI Life Achievement Awa
Website: http://www.kodaktheatre.com/events.htm
Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol," one of the most popular holiday traditions, starring John Goodman, Jane Leeves, and Christopher Lloyd as Ebenezer Scrooge, comes to the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center.
The production is written and directed by Kevin Von Feldt, and produced by Equity Filmvest Partners, LLC in association with Hand Picked Films.
Von Feldt, who previously directed productions of "Godspell," "Annie Get Your Gun," "The Music Man," and "The Sound of Music," said for him "A Christmas Carol" is a story that he fully identifies with. "I've always been fascinated by stories of redemption. For me, a stage version must be faithful to the original Dickens story. The dramatic arc of the story - beginning with Scrooge's good early days, to becoming melancholy with his obsession of money, to his transition leading to a second shot at life - is among the most satisfying in all literature."
"My favorite part is when Scrooge finally gets to be ecstatic about life. He has had a chance to change - and he thinks he is the luckiest guy on earth, a literal gift from heaven. People are drawn to hearing this story year after year after year, and it is no accident to me that audiences flock to it every holiday season."
"And finally, 'A Christmas Carol' affords an audience a chance to see beloved and well known actors on stage. Because the run is limited, busy actors can make time in their schedules to do a short run of a theatre piece."
The scenery is by Jeff Hile, scenic elements by Jaroslav Gebr, lighting by David Neville, sound by Phil Allen, and special effects by Technifex.
Christopher Lloyd began his career in theatre and has appeared in over two hundred plays including on and off Broadway, regional and summer stock productions. For his title role in "Kaspar" he took home an Obie and Drama Desk award. Christopher has recently been in the Tony Award winning Broadway production of "Mornings At Seven," directed by Dan Sullivan, as well as "Twelfth Night" in NY Festival's Shakespeare in the Park and Center Stage's "Waiting for Godot," and as Dalton Trumbo in the New York production of "Trumbo."
In 1975 Lloyd began his film career in "One Flew Over The Cuckoo"s Nest." This was soon followed by a two-year run as Jim Ignatowski on the TV series "Taxi", for which Lloyd won two of his three Emmys. Lloyd has appeared in over ninety film and television production including the "Back to the Future" trilogy, "Things to Do in Denver When You"re Dead," "Eight Men Out," "Addams Family" and "Addams Family Values," BBC"s "Dead Ahead: Exxon Valdez Disaster," "The Pagemaster," "Dennis the Menace," "Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai" "Track 29," "Clue," "The Dream Team," "Angels in the Outfield," "Star Trek III," "Goin" South," "Who Framed Roger Rabbit," "My Favorite Martian" and Mike Nichols' HBO adaptation of "Wit," starring Emma Thompson.
In 1992 Lloyd made Emmy history when he won Best Dramatic Actor for Disney's "Road to Avonlea." In a category dominated by series regulars, Lloyd was the first actor to win for a guest appearance. Lloyd won an Independent Spirit Award for his chilly depiction as a soulless murderer in "Twenty Bucks."
John Goodman's Broadway credits include the Public Theatre's "Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui" the Shakespeare in the Park production of "The Seagull," 1979's "Loose Ends" and the 1985 musical "Big River." His regional theatre credits include "Henry IV, Parts I and II," "Antony and Cleopatra," "As You Like It" and "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" at the Geffen Playhouse.
For eight years he was a crucial part of the top-rated ABC series "Roseanne," playing Roseanne's forthright husband, earning him seven Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe. He also received Emmy nominations for his starring role in TNT's "Kingfish: A Story of Huey P. Long" and for his role as Mitch in the CBS production of Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar Named Desire." His films include "The Flintstones," "Monsters, Inc.," and as a perennial favorite in Coen Brothers movies including "Barton Fink" (Golden Globe nomination), "Raising Arizona," "The Big Lebowski" and "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" Goodman can next be seen in Disney's "Confessions of a Shopaholic" and Epoch's "Gigantic." He was most recently seen in "Speed Racer," "Evan Almighty" and "Bee Movie."
Award winning actress Jane Leeves played the role of Sally Bowles in the Roundabout Theatre revival of "Cabaret" on Broadway. She is best known for her eleven seasons as the eccentric, forthright and allegedly psychic Daphne Moon on the hit NBC series "Frasier." Jane and the cast of "Frasier" won the SAG Award for Best Ensemble in a Comedy Series in 2000. From 1995 to 2004 the cast were nominated a total of ten times, and by the end of "Frasier," Jane had an Emmy Award nomination for her role as Daphne Moon. Prior to "Frasier," Leeves appeared on television in recurring roles on "Seinfeld" and "Murphy Brown." Onscreen, Leeves has lent her voice to the animated film "James and the Giant Peach." Other film credits include "The Event," "Music of the Heart," and "Miracle on 34th Street."