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10/26/2017 12:01 AMImagine this:
The year is 1925 and William Gillette, legendary actor of the late decades of the 19th century and early decades of the 20th century, is approached by William Goodspeed, owner of the famed Opera House in East Haddam. Goodspeed is going to close down the theater, but he wants to end its run with something very special for the holidays.
He asks Gillette, who was famous for his stage and film characterization of Sherlock Holmes—and who happened to live in his castle-like home just down the Connecticut River from the theater—to play Scrooge in a Connecticut-themed version of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. Goodspeed suggests using Gillette’s company of actors to play the other Dickens characters in the story, which is now set in 1870 instead of 1843—but now has a twist of Nutmeg.
Interesting, thinks Gillette.
Tell me more, he says.
In this version, the character of Hartford-born financier J.P. Morgan will substitute for the tight-fisted and too-late-repentant Jacob Marley. And the Ghost of Christmas Past will be represented by the character of the beloved Hartford native Harriet Beecher Stowe. After all, as the author of America’s first book phenom, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, she certainly had a great heart and a special sense of the past.
And what personage would be the Ghost of Christmas Present, a figure filled with exuberance, joy and fun? Why Bridgeport’s own P.T. Barnum, naturally. Who else better to embody such joie de vivre?
For the Ghost of Christmas Future, the choice was also obvious: the Connecticut icon known for chronicling, often cynically, the human comedy—and tragedy—of life. It’s Mark Twain, of course.
And quicker than you can say, “The game’s afoot,” Gillette is in.
That’s the premise for A Connecticut Christmas Carol, which will have its developmental production—meaning not ready yet for critics—at Goodspeed Musicals’ Norma Terris Theatre in Chester. Performance begin Friday, Nov. 17 and will continue through Friday, Dec. 24.
And oh, yes, it’s a musical, too.
The concept was the brainchild off L J Fecho, who wrote the script, and Michael O’Flaherty, longtime music director for Goodspeed Musicals, who wrote the music and lyrics for the original tunes in the show.
The two created a similar community-centric production when they both worked in Pennsylvania, using German Dutch traditions and holiday iconography of that culture.
Fecho and Flaherty started thinking that A Christmas Carol using Connecticut figures would be popular here, too. After a reading of the new adaptation during the run of Goodspeed’s Guys and Dolls, the show was slated for this holiday season. Hunter Foster, who staged the musical Summer of ‘42 at the theater in 2000, was tapped to stage the production. Playing Gillette and leading the 11-member cast is Len Wolpe, who starred at the theater in a revival of Stephen Schwartz’s The Baker’s Wife. Orchestrations are by Dan DeLange, music direction is by Dan Pardo, and choreography is by Lisa Shriver
“I took a page from the Peter Stone playbook,” says Fecho, referring to the librettist of the musical 1776.
Fecho says he took many quotations from his Connecticut historical figures, laid them on the floor, and over time wove them into his script.
“We made it as historically accurate as we could, but we took some liberties,” says Fecho. “But it’s very close.”
One of Fecho’s favorite re-imaginings was Mark Twain as the usually silent Ghost of Christmas Future.
“It’s very cool because he goes after Scrooge even more so with his wit and sarcastic way and is quite a match for Scrooge. With his cynicism and goading, he really puts a mirror up to Scrooge.”
Fecho also shares an interesting footnote that’s not in the musical: “Mark Twain actually gave William Gillette $5,000 to get his career started.”
Fecho hopes the musical connects with Connecticut audiences.
“I think it’s a neat twist to a wonderful classic.”
Frank Rizzo is a freelance journalist who lives in New Haven and New York City. He has been writing about theater and the arts in Connecticut for nearly 40 years.