Hollywood's Award-Winning Hit Holiday Show A Mulholland Christmas Carol Returns to the Theatre of NOTE Stage!

Theatre of NOTE is proud to announce the opening of Bill Robens' award winning (Best Comedy Ensemble, Best Adaptation) holiday extravaganza, A Mulholland Christmas Carol. The musical comedy adaptation of A Christmas Carol - retold with LA.'S DWP water baron, William Mulholland, as Scrooge - fuses Charles Dickens' classic tale of redemption with a hilarious tongue-in-cheek critique on political corruption in Los Angeles.

Once again, a recreation of the St. Francis Dam - 180 ft. high and 600 ft. long - will be destroyed every night, live, on stage, releasing 11.4 billion gallons of water onto the unsuspecting audience in the only stage version of the whole tragic story. Horror, pathos and catchy tunes; all brought to you by the same creative team responsible for previous year's smash hit production at NOTE.

Critical acclaim for A MULHOLLAND CHRISTMAS CAROL

LA Weekly:
A MULHOLLAND CHRISTMAS CAROL
Recommended
The legendary William Mulholland, powerful head of what eventually became L.A.’s Department of Water and Power, takes on the mantle of Ebenezer Scrooge in William Robens’ hilarious musical that fuses Charles Dickens’ perennial tale of redemption with a tongue-in-cheek critique on political corruption in Los Angeles. The three ghostly visits trace the life of Mulholland (Greg Wall) from his inauspicious arrival in 1878 (and his idealistic dreams of bringing free water to the sleepy burg) to his compromise in later years with L.A.’s ruling class on various land grabs and water wars (fictionalized in the movie Chinatown ), and his ultimate disgrace after 500-plus people were killed in the famed 1928 St. Francis Dam collapse. The large, talented ensemble mines the rich veins of humor in Robens’ inventive script and songs, while director Kiff Scholl (who designed an ingenious recreation of the dam’s cave-in) and musical director Bill Newlin set a suitably exuberant tone. David Conner’s loony ghost of Teddy Roosevelt and Dean Lemont’s wide-eyed young Mulholland are just some of the comic standouts. But it’s Wall who holds it all together as the arrogant Mulholland, whose heart-rending rendition of "I Envy the Dead" reveals the anguish of a chastised engineer in desperate need of salvation. Written 11/27/02 (Martín Hernández)

LA Weekly:
A MULHOLLAND CHRISTMAS CAROL
Recommended
Transposing Dickens’ well-roasted holiday chestnut to the story of William Mulholland and the dubious water-politics of Los Angeles is an audacious thematic move, but Bill Robens’ witty musical makes it work surprisingly well. Winner last year of two L.A. Weekly Theater Awards (for Best Comedy Ensemble and Best Adaptation), this spirited revival is a treat. Robens’ script and songs work not only as an amusing tweak on creaky Scrooge but as an occasionally sobering history lesson. Kiff Scholl’s direction is effective both in small comedic moments and in full-cast musical numbers, and his set design is both compact and efficient. On Xmas Eve, Old Mulholland (Greg Wall), responsible for the wholesale theft of water from the Owens Valley (in order to spur the growth of Los Angeles) is visited by three semi-familiar ghosts. The Ghost of Christmas Past (Frank Crim) displays an earlier idealistic Mulholland, but Christmas Present (David Conner) — in the person of Teddy Roosevelt — shows Mulholland the terrible harm he’s done to the poor residents of the Owens Valley.. And Christmas Future (Terry Tocantins) has the worst vision of all — the destruction of the St. Francis dam. Elizabeth Liang and Millie Chow are both hilarious standouts amid a terrific cast. Conner makes for an indelibly chipper Roosevelt, and Tocantins is treacly perfection as the Tiny Tim puppet, Poquito Pablito. Written 12/11/2003 (Terry Morgan)

Backstage West:
"A Mulholland Christmas Carol"

William Robens and Kiff Scholl have hit on something here that they should think about teaching to the LAUSD: The way to make social studies classes interesting, even fascinating, is to set them to music. A Mulholland Christmas Carol is a comprehensive look at a critical period in Los Angeles history that had me engaged and entertained every step of the merry way. Written by Robens and directed by Scholl, the production recasts William Mulholland as Scrooge, beginning with his successful attempt to steal (oops, I mean divert) the water of the Owens River for Los Angeles and ending with the collapse of the St. Francis Dam that killed 500 people. Of course, in a nod to merriment and holiday cheer, Mulholland sees the error of his ways.

The cast is just terrific--talented performers one and all. Greg Wall nicely traces Mulholland's journey from greedy and crusty to pained, redeemable, and buoyant. Terry Tocantins is wonderfully sly and snooty as J.B. Lippincott and horridly precious as Poquito Pablito. Other notable performances are turned in by David Conner in a brilliant turn as Teddy Roosevelt, and by Dean Lamont, who, though he might want to decide whether he's going to use an Irish brogue, gives a strong performance as young Mulholland.

The writing is also strong, witty, sharp, and, in a story as well known as this, unpredictable--though Robens does make canny use of the particularly well-worn passages. Occasionally the script bogs down in the minutiae of water theft and dam building, and the water-is-a-precious-commodity jokes get hit a bit often, but this is usually quickly saved by the punchy musical numbers, which are the stars of the show. The songs are impressive, running the gamut from hilarious ("Land Grab," "Bully!" and "It's Christmas Time") to touching ("I Envy the Dead").

In a funnier, quirkier--oh, I'll say it--perfect world, A Mulholland Christmas Carol would be as traditional to the Los Angeles holiday season as, say, the Holiday Christmas Parade. Sadly the world is not perfect, so lovers of good comedy and good fun--with a little history lesson on the side--would do well to see this while it's here. Written 11/27/2002 (Claudia Grazioso)


Entertainment Today.com:
“Who Says L.A. Has No Holiday Traditions?“
I missed two acclaimed holiday treats premiering last Christmas, but had the thrill to catch them both this time around. Theatre of NOTE’s original musical A Mulholland Christmas Carol was a magnificent achievement, with local history craftily invading Dickens as William Mulholland lords over the Owens Valley as the resident Scrooge, grumbling “Bah Bullshit!” instead of the usual “Humbug!” Written 1/2/2004 (Travis Michael Holder)