There are three more chances to see Charlottesville’s Black Box Players’ version of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” this weekend: today at 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. and tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. The musical was written and directed by MaryAnne Thornton, and it includes original music and lyrics by Jim Asher the world’s leading authority on Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson’s third cousin, twice removed – at her request).
Have you ever read Dicken’s book? I always thought it amusing his opening lines that question our ancestors’ wisdom and the accuracy of the simile “dead as a doornail.” Here are the first two paragraphs:
Have you ever read Dicken’s book? I always thought it amusing his opening lines that question our ancestors’ wisdom and the accuracy of the simile “dead as a doornail.” Here are the first two paragraphs:
| Marley was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it. And Scrooge's name was good upon 'Change, for anything he chose to put his hand to. Old Marley was as dead as a door-nail. Mind! I don't mean to say that I know, of my own knowledge, what there is particularly dead about a door-nail. I might have been inclined, myself, to regard a coffin-nail as the deadest piece of ironmongery in the trade. But the wisdom of our ancestors is in the simile; and my unhallowed hands shall not disturb it, or the Country's done for. You will therefore permit me to repeat, emphatically, that Marley was as dead as a door-nail. |  |
Of course, how do you transfer the text of novel to the stage? And for a musical, how and when do you insert a song?
In the case of the Black Box Players’ version of Dickens’ classic, director MaryAnne Thornton interweaves narrators throughout the play to tell the story, and composer Jim Asher opened the show with a very suitable and haunting song in three-quarter time (with hints of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman”) that states, “Once upon a time….” Here are the lyrics:
Once Upon A Time:
Once upon a time –
How many a'story’s begun with that line?
Once upon a time –
Four little words that say lives intertwine.
They signal the start of a story,
A drama’s about to unfold.
We then hear the grit and the glory
Till all of the story is told.
Once upon a time –
How often have writers made use of that line?
Once upon a time –
I say it tonight by design.
[MUSIC]
Once upon a time –
The details I hope to remember.
Once upon a time –
I’m sure that the month was December
My story unfolds in the season
Of goodwill on Earth to all men
When one greedy soul with good reason
Had time to see what might have been.
Once upon a time –
Yes, that old beginning does suit me just fine.
Once upon a time –
I say it tonight by design.
Once upon a time –
How many a'story’s begun with that line?
Once upon a time –
Four little words that say lives intertwine.
They signal the start of a story,
A drama’s about to unfold.
We then hear the grit and the glory
Till all of the story is told.
Once upon a time –
How often have writers made use of that line?
Once upon a time –
I say it tonight by design.
[MUSIC]
Once upon a time –
The details I hope to remember.
Once upon a time –
I’m sure that the month was December
My story unfolds in the season
Of goodwill on Earth to all men
When one greedy soul with good reason
Had time to see what might have been.
Once upon a time –
Yes, that old beginning does suit me just fine.
Once upon a time –
I say it tonight by design.
To read more about the Black Box Players' "A Christmas Carol," click on the post titles below:
THIS CHRISTMAS
WHAT'S CHRISTMAS
IT'S DECEMBER AGAIN
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