Photo credit: Mark Frohna
What happens when 20 members of a Victorian music hall theater troupe come down with food poisoning right before a show? The remaining three members must play all the roles in Scrooge in Rouge, a farcical, hilarious send-up of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. And how lucky for the audiences. In Tandem Theatre has revived its holiday favorite for those who like nonstop laughs, over-the-top cross-dressing and nanosecond costume changes that don’t always quite work. And that’s the sheer joy of this bawdy, irreverent show within a show.
Written by Ricky Graham and Jefferson Turner with additional material by Jeff Roberson and Yvette Harris, Scrooge in Rouge moves at a dizzying pace as three actors play all the Carol characters plus some side bits as well. In Tandem Managing Director Jane Flieller serves the production well with minimal sets and maximum talent with the trio at hand, and what fun they all have! Nathan Marinan as female impersonator Lottie (and some male roles as well) is a constant delight to watch with his-or-her over-the-top moves and overly dramatic pronunciations. Marinan’s Oscar Wilde-ish Ghost of Christmas Present is as funny as it is clever with its tongue-in-cheek humor.
Elyse Edelman as male impersonator Vesta gets in her comic turns as Scrooge, and Chris Flieller as MC Charlie plays just about everyone else in the cast in a whirlwind of movement and hilarity—be it a foppish nephew Fred or a way-too-nice Bob Cratchit. There are many funny musical numbers in this Scrooge, but “So Much Love” featuring an amorous Bob chasing an exhausted and very pregnant Mrs. Cratchit (Marinan) with “child” in hand, has to be seen for its full comic effect. With In Tandem’s Scrooge in Rouge, we get something comically naughty and nice to fill our Christmas stockings this holiday season. Who could ask for anything more?
Stay on top of the news of the day
Subscribe to our free, daily e-newsletter to get Milwaukee's latest local news, restaurants, music, arts and entertainment and events delivered right to your inbox every weekday, plus a bonus Week in Review email on Saturdays.
Through Jan. 7 at Tenth Street Theatre, 628 N. 10th St. For tickets, call 414-271-1371 or visit intandemtheatre.org/events/scrooge-in-rouge.
