Long Beach
Holiday concert features movie music and a classic Dickens tale
By John Farrell
POSTED: 12/19/13, 9:44 AM PST | Varese Sarabande 35th Anniversary Holiday Gala
When: 8 p.m. Saturday.
Where: Warner Grand Theatre, 478 W. Sixth St., San Pedro.
Tickets: $28.50-$60.
Information: 310-433-8774, www.gspo.com
There will be more than just the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Future at the Warner Grand Theatre in San Pedro Saturday night.
The Golden State Pops Orchestra and maestro Steven Allen Fox are presenting the “Varese Sarabande 35th Anniversary Holiday Gala,” which will feature ghosts, including the famous spirits created by Charles Dickens.
On the program is Christmas music, much of it from classic films, as well as a revival of a 1954 TV version of “A Christmas Carol” featuring soloists and the Golden State Pops Chorale under maestra Marya Basaraba. The TV broadcast was an hourlong, color version, presented as an episode in the CBS series “Shower of Stars.” Hosted by William Lundigan, the show starred Fredric March as Ebenezer Scrooge and Basil Rathbone as Marley’s ghost. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Maxwell Anderson wrote the teleplay and lyrics for the songs, and famed film composer Bernard Herrmann composed the score. This “Christmas Carol” exists only in a black-and-white kinescope, some of which you can see on YouTube. But the full score, with soloists including Eric Castro as Scrooge, Patrick Blackwell as the Ghost of Christmas Present, Tara Alexander as Belle, Jackson Hatwan as Tiny Tim and Ashley Nyman as Martha Cratchit, will be played live Saturday night as part of the celebration. Basaraba will direct the performance.
While “A Christmas Carol” is the center of the celebration, there is much more. Basaraba and the Chorale will be featured in music from the film “Elf” with composer John Debney conducting his music.
There also will be songs from “Home Alone” by John Williams. Music from “A Charlie Brown Christmas” prepared for the concert by William Ross will feature a flute solo by Sara Andon. Alexander will sing Alexandre Desplat’s “Still Dream” from the film “Rise of the Guardians.”