Scrooge in Rouge at Theatre Too in Theatre Three
Book and Lyrics by Ricky Graham
Additional Material by Jeffery Roberson
Other Interesting Bits by Yvette Hargis
Original Music Composed by Jefferson Turner
Directed and Choreographed by Dr. Danielle Georgiou
Music Directed by Cherish Robinson
Assistant Director James Chandler
Scenic Design Leah Mazur
Costume Design Sarah Mosher
Lighting Designer Lori Honeycutt
Stage Manager Gabriela Leodiou
Asst Lighting, Master Electrician Niels Winter
Asst Costume Danelle Morrow and Lauren Brown
CAST
Micah Brooks as Charlie Schmaltz
Leslie Marie Collins as Vesta Virile
Cherish Love Robinson as Alfred Da Cappo, Music Director. Keys
Alejandro Saucedo As Lottie Obbligato
Cameron Wisener Understudy
My thoughts on Scrooge in Rouge at Theatre Too or…big and bawdy laughs going on downstairs.
I love Christmas shows and DFW will have many this season. They usually bring smiles. heartwarming feelings, and a chuckle or two maybe. I was unprepared for the riotous Scrooge in Rouge, which is by far the funniest Christmas show I have ever seen.
Scrooge in Rouge is a retelling of the Dickens classic A Christmas Carol. It seems that The Royal Music Hall Variety Players have lost 17 members of their 20-member troupe to food poisoning leaving only 3 members and their accompanist to carry on. And carry on they do for ninety minutes.
Scrooge in Rouge is a mash up of styles that include English Music Hall, vaudeville, panto, and drag shows with lots of “Benny Hill” and “Are You Being Served?” style British naughty humor. Jokes, double entendres, and sight gags fly around the stage faster than Santa’s reindeer.
Director and Choreographer Dr. Danielle Georgiou keeps this madcap melange moving at a such a fast clip that I’m sure the actors go on oxygen at intermission. Despite the pace, Georgiou makes sure all the jokes land, sometimes in your lap. It is all great fun.
Music Director Cherish Robinson, who plays pianist Alfred Da Cappo, keeps those Music Hall tunes playing spritely and is part of the on-stage action. Robinson also does a marvelous Queen Victoria impression. Silencing the cell phones is a royal command here.
The remaining three members of the Variety Players are Micah Brooks as Charlie Schmaltz, Alejandro Saucedo as Lottie Obbligatto, and Leslie Marie Collins as Vesta Virile. I have seen all three of these performers in comedies previously and been impressed. However, they all earn a new set of comedy stripes for hilarity and stamina in Scrooge in Rouge.
Micah Brooks is a wonder as Charlie Schmaltz. He seems to be everywhere at once, constantly changing voices, characters, expressions, and costumes. Among his myriad other characters. Brooks is especially good as Scrooge’s perennially hopeful nephew Freddy and the oversexed Bob Cratchit. Alejandro Saucedo as the “singing soubrette” Lottie Obbligato is a cross dressing, peripatetic sensation. Saucedo elevates comic cross dressing to a brilliant, bawdy art and has quite a lovely falsetto. Saucedo is also quite adept at delivering those naughty double entendres. Speaking of lovely voices, Leslie Marie Collins as “male impersonator” Vesta Virile, who is the anchor of the show as Scrooge, has got to be the sweetest voiced Scrooge ever. The mustachioed Collins is terrific portraying Scrooge’s “bah humbug” transition from a self-centered old miser, who through a ghostly Christmas journey, becomes a changed man. Collins has the brio of a classic British music hall performer, and her/his musical numbers are as sparkling as Christmas tinsel.
All of this fabulous frivolity is enhanced by Leah Mazur’s design of a third-rate music hall, Sarah Mosher’s shabbily inventive costumes, and Lori Honeycutt’s lighting, replete with the footlights of the era. The intimacy of the Theatre Too space is also a major factor in the success of Scrooge in Rouge. The performers are never more than a few feet away from the audience and the audience is very much a part of the show. Yes, there’s some audience participation, but don’t worry, it’s the fun, unforced kind.
The most amazing thing about Scrooge in Rouge is that, even with all the play’s inspired craziness and sexual innuendo, Director Georgiou is able to keep the true spirit of the original Dickens (or Dick Chickens as Lottie calls him) classic alive. There’s even a touching moment or two near the end. “God Bless Us Everyone!”
What a phenomenally entertaining Christmas treat this is! I recommend de-Scrooging and rouging for anyone who doesn’t have a good time at Scrooge in Rouge.
