Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol – Southbank Centre

Dickens’ tale of poverty, inequality and transformation has been a staple of the holiday season since it was first published in 1843. While Dickens was highlighting the terrible deprivation of the London slums, Dolly Parton’s new musical takes the audience to the Appalachian Mountains in 1936, at the height of the Depression. As in the original tale, Ebenezer Scrooge owns everything in the town, having taken over ownership of the mine, shop and bank from his partner, Jacob Marley. The inhabitants of the town work all hours for a pittance for Scrooge, struggling, scrimping and saving, but finding joy in their families, and in their hopes and dreams. There’s no such joy in Scrooge’s life, and he focuses all his time and energy on making and saving money. He has no-one and regards Christmas as a ridiculous frivolity that the local populace cannot afford. He only begrudgingly gives his employee, Bob Cratchit, Christmas Day off. It takes visits by the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future to remind Scrooge that he wasn’t always a miserly old man but became increasingly hard-hearted and wretched due to his past experiences. Confronted with the evidence of his miserliness and where this will lead in the future, he realises that amassing wealth doesn’t bring him happiness and he can bring empathy back into his life.

Dolly Parton’s voice resonates clearly through all the songs. A couple of earworms travel out of the theatre with the audience after the show, but there are also some clunky rhymes. These can be forgiven, as the performances are uniformly fabulous with most of the cast taking on multiple roles. Robert Bathurst’s Scrooge is a growling, scowling misery who has little to do in the first half other than scowl and be miserly. As Scrooge gradually softens, Bathurst credibly shows the character’s evolution into a better man, who even bursts into song. Songs such as “Three Candles” provide an on-going theme of hope and are beautifully sung at various points by Vicki Lee Taylor (Amy Sue), Danny Whitehead (Eben and Fred) and Sarah O’Connor (Fanny).

Samuel Sturge is the cutest of cute as Tiny Tim, navigating the Tennessee accent as easily as the rest of the cast. An American might not agree, but the timbre of the accents sounds totally Dolly and authentically southern US.

Scott Davis’s set perfectly recreates a company shop/office/poor home in 1930s Tennessee. It looks overcrowded but still accommodates the large ensemble cast’s energetic dance routines, choreographed by Alison Pollard (who also directs the show) and Andrew Margerison. They are backed by a brilliant six-piece on-stage band, led by MD Andrew Hilton, which produces the perfect musical hoe-down sound. Corey Wickens on violin deserves special mention, her playing becoming a character in its own right.

This show is extremely cheesy and twee in its re-imagining of Dickens’ original, but it is also original, beautifully performed and full of joy and love. The perfect Christmas miracle.

Dolly Parton’s Smoky Mountain Christmas Carol is at the Queen Elizabeth Hall at the Southbank Centre until 8th January. Tickets are available from:  https://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/performance-dance/dolly-partons-smoky-mountain-christmas-carol

Reviewer: Carole Gordon

Reviewed: 13th December 2022

North West End UK Rating: ★★★★