Tuesday night we saw the Dallas Theater Center’s wonderful production of A Christmas Carol. We’ve seen it several times since I was a kid, but this year’s was truly the perfect performance. (Even if I was ignorant enough to read the curtain as 7:30 on the ticket and somehow interpret that as an 8:00 start time.) Wonderful as the performance was, however, Jeff observed that he has never yet seen any version of the Dickens Christmas classic in which the actress playing Belle (Scrooge’s former fiancée) could actually sing. He thinks the call sheet for Belle must read something like, “As poor a singing voice as possible required for this part.” Of course, we must give the actress in the Dallas Theater Center company due credit – she wasn’t nearly as bad as the actress who plays Belle in The Muppet Christmas Carol.
Speaking of which, Jeff and I watched it tonight, being as it’s one of our favorite Christmas movies and a great way to spend Christmas Eve. Our copy is, um, well…cough…aDVDofquestionablelegality…cough…and we were watching it on our TV via cables to Jeff’s computer. When the movie came to the aforementioned scene featuring Belle and young Ebenezer Scrooge, we prepared to fast forward through said solo by Belle – because she is so unattractive flaring her nostrils, and her voice rather grates upon the ears. But we had technical difficulty with the remote control, and braced ourselves to hear the song, when the scene abruptly cut from Belle saying, “You did love me once, Ebenezer, to the Ghost of Christmas Past dropping Scrooge off at his house. Whoever ripped the movie from a DVD and posted it online apparently hated Belle’s song, too, and decided that would be a good thing to cut. We are most grateful to this person. It’s the best edit of The Muppet Christmas Carol ever.
While I’m discussing bootleg copies of DVDs…I’ve heard of extended director’s cuts, but shortened director’s cuts? Why on earth did they delete scenes from the DVD of A Muppet Family Christmas? We watched that tonight, too, and were dismayed that the Fozzie/Snowman song was cut, as well as the home video of the Baby!Muppets singing “Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town.” So Jeff checked another downloaded version, this time of a recorded-off-TV rip, and the scenes were present and accounted for. Very perplexing that on TV you can see all forty-six minutes of the movie, but if you buy it on DVD, you only get forty minutes and mild confusion.
On that note, it’s time Burts were in bed so Sandy Claws can come bring us presents. (Actually, Jeff still needs to wrap one of mine. Not that I don’t already know it’s the soundtrack to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Not that we both don’t know every item each bought the other.)
Updates will be scarce from me till after the New Year. We’re doing the Bond Christmas tomorrow and Monday, then flying up to Minnesota for a week. So, holiday cheer to you all! Yes, holiday. Because that encompasses Christmas and New Year, and like someone wrote to the editor of The Dallas Morning News, “I’m a Christian, but I don’t give a ho ho ho whether they call it a holiday tree or a Christmas tree.”
25/12/2005 at 9:34 am Permalink
Exactly. People are always just looking for another thing to get their panties in a wad over.
26/12/2005 at 2:21 pm Permalink
How are you doing? Hope you had a wonderful Christmas celebration. Crystal is officially engaged. Ring and all. I am happy for her. Bye for now.