Sonya B.
Yelp
"WHAT JUST HAPPENED!??" That's what my 17-year-old daughter asked me during the intermission of this years Christmas Carrol. It was also the consensus of our family post show. Recent Yelp reviews are too kind and the people responsible for changing the set, the cast, the script and producing a Christmas Carrol at the Geva Theater this year ruined the show and should be fired. Before you buy tickets to this year's play at the Geva Theater, STOP, read the recent reviews and spend your money on entertainment elsewhere!
My wife and I have been taking our family to Geva for 18 years to see the show. We always buy tickets the night they go on sale and try to sit in the front row center stage. However, ever since Guy Paul (Ebenezer) left the production a few years ago, the play has gone downhill. Last year's production retained the same stage set and script but some of the actors had changed. It started to become a little confusing at times as some of the characters in the timeline would be played by someone of a different race, which made it hard to follow, even having seen prior years shows. This year's production sank to an all-time low with the entire production, set, script and cast (except the recent Ebenezer) being changed. Here are a few things that changed and/or have been removed that make this years production a complete disaster.
The first thing you notice when you walk in the theater is a strange green and gold stage set, which looks very two dimensional and basic compared to the sets in prior years. The grave digger is gone, who has opened the show with an eerie laugh for years. Our show started 10 minutes late at 7:40pm, which never happened before. Also, we noticed that both acts 1 & 2 were about 15 minutes shorter than in prior years. The amazing characters we've grown to love who brought so much breadth & depth to their performances like those played by Fred, Fezziwig, Martha and Cratchit are all gone. Tiny Tim was very hard to understand. We have a family member who participates in the artist unlimited productions and support special needs or handicapped performers. Also, this years Ebenezer character seemed to get lost in the crowd on stage and was somewhat marginalized. Last year and especially this years production was not as credible or believable as it's become a bit more urban and confusing. Meaning, it's not true to the 1840's when Dickens wrote his book. Also, gone is the talented violinist, piano playing and angelic singing Martha, there is far less singing in general and what you do hear is not as good or inspirational as prior years performances. We also had to deal with fog that rolled off stage into the first few rows and into our faces as well as an annoying bright light in our eyes during the ghost of Christmas future segment. Moreover, they kept using the same song throughout the play instead of the usual variety of songs that accompanied a clear storyline. A huge let down this year were the three Ghosts, which can only be described as bizarre and disappointing. The most shocking moment came when the ghost of Christmas present came on stage dressed in drag wearing a colorful outfit, complete with red armlength velvet gloves and high heels singing and acting flamboyantly. Not certain if this was meant to be humorous or the production was striving to be more woke, but it didn't work. Nor did Ebenezer doing the floss dance from a Katy Perry video. The key emotional parts of prior years shows like when Martha ends her relationship with Ebenezer or when Ebenezer becomes a changed man at the end don't happen in this years version. It's not the same play and we found ourselves discussing how the owner must have cut the budget by 50% as the plays we watched in high school and college were better. We spent over an hour post show having to answer questions from our kids as to why the show was so different.
To summarize, this years Christmas Carrol is not good, we would not recommend it, we left the show confused and seriously disappointed. Our family always looks forward to going to this particular show but this was an awful experience. After 18 years of bringing our family of 5 (and usually guests) to the show at Geva, we will not be returning to watch Christmas Carrol next year.
Honestly, this is NOT the Christmas Carrol show we paid to see and will be requesting a full refund.
UPDATE ON 1/2/25
I received a response from guest relations on 12/24, which in does not address feedback how horrible the show was and we have not received any follow up from their customer service team. Because my post is so long, I could not include in this review.
We will not see a Christmas Carol again or any play at Geva after this incredibly disappointing experience.