Holiday Fest 2024
This is a truly wonderful find that I wasn’t looking for and, even having found it, am bowled over it exists. But to put it all in perspective, it requires some background.
Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse wrote a few musicals together, but with great success. Most notably, Stop the World, I Want to Get Off; and The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd (both of which Newley also starred in), as well as the score to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Among their hit songs were “What Kind of Fool Am I?”, “Who Can I Turn To?”, “Feeling Good” (oddly enough, perhaps their most-heard song today, still used in many TV commercials seemingly as a spiritual) and “The Candy Man.”
They somewhat went their separate ways in the mid-1960s, though still periodically worked together over the years, including the 1972 stage musical The Good Old, Bad Old Days that played in London’s West End, though didn’t come to Broadway. And also an interesting and pretty good 1976 musical adaptation of Peter Pan for The Hallmark Hall of Fame that starred Mia Farrow and Danny Kaye. (The audio of which I recorded at the time off my TV and later found the full video of it on YouTube, which I posted here.) (Willy Wonka was also done during this period, in 1971.) But Newley had his solo performing career in clubs, TV and some movies, and co-wrote and starred in the unsuccessful musical Chaplin (which I saw in its premiere in Los Angeles), while Bricusse wrote the scores and screenplays to the movie musicals Scrooge, Goodbye Mr. Chips and Dr. Doolittle (in which Newley had a supporting role – and which won the Best Song Oscar for “Talk to the Animals”).
Bricusse also adapted his 1970 movie, Scrooge, for the stage, though he took around 20 years to so. He added several news songs to fill out the stage play and changed a few lyrics to fit the new structure. And that brings us to the point of it all. Because for the stage production, the actor who starred as ‘Scrooge’ was – Anthony Newley. In fact, he played it for about four years touring the production around England (during the holiday season, I have to assume), though it never played on the West End. Until 1995, when an elaborate holiday production was mounted and ran for three months. (Years later, it was revived with Tommy Steele in the lead.)
I’ve posted some videos of him singing a few songs for the show – including some new numbers that Bricusse added for the stage version. Such as this one, "A Better Life," which he performs here on a TV show. Though it can't be embedded on the website, you can watch it on YouTube here.
But that’s not the point here. The point is -- while searching for material related to the musical, and coming across some brief pieces, I stumbled on this video. And was gobsmacked. It’s the entire stage production of Scrooge that stars Anthony Newley! Yes, really. In fairness, the description on the video said “Audio Only.” So, although this was indeed a treasured find, I didn't expect much in terms of quality. I figured that perhaps it was recorded from the audience, muffled at best, though clear enough to hear and appreciate having a record of.
But no, that’s not what it is at all.
This was a live performance of the stage musical done for BBC Radio in 1995, with the regular audience at the Palace Theatre in Manchester, England. And the sound quality is impeccable. And though audio only, the person who uploaded the video did a wonderful job added a wide range of related graphics. The performances are terrific, most especially Newley leading the way as ‘Scrooge’, throwing himself into the role without the bulk of his Newley mannerisms. He plays the role superbly, and is as mean -- and believably mean -- a Scrooge as you’ll find. And then, of course, distraught and joyful. (For the intermission, they have an interview with Newley.) The production also has narration, which I assume was mostly added for the radio-listener audience to overlap with the unseen action on stage, though some of it is directly based on Dickens’ writing. And it all ends with two minutes of rousing applause and cheers before it fades out.
Yes, we’ll have a few productions of A Christmas Carol during the Fest. But, hey, ‘tis the season.
So – here it is, the stage production of Leslie Bricusses’s musical, Scrooge, starring Anthony Newley. Audio only, but what a treat.
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