Customer Reviews

A Christmas Carol

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Some songs, customs, and stories are so beloved, so familiar that they have become an integral part of our holiday celebrations. It wouldn't be the 4th of July without a parade; it wouldn't be Valentine's Day without a heart shaped box; and it wouldn't be Christmas without hearing "Silent Night" and a reading of "A Christmas Carol."

Every once in a while another version or recording comes along that makes the familiar seem new, we hear it as though for the first time. That is certainly the case with this performance of "A Christmas Carol" by the irrepressible Jonathan Winters. He inhabits every character from Scrooge to his housekeeper to Tiny Tim, offering in his own incomparable manner the way he thinks each character would sound.

Never has a Scrooge been meaner, a ghost more menacing or Tiny Tim more winning. Mr. Winters has been called "a one-man theatrical troupe" - indeed, he is as he not only presents amazingly different voices but sound effects as well. This is a one-of-a-kind version of "A Christmas Carol."

Enjoy!

- Gail Cooke

I've been a huge fan of Jonathan Winters all of my life. What is surprising in this CD is that Winters remains faithful to Dicken's text. I had fully expected him to get carried away and go off on his fantastic tangents like he usually does with his own characters like Maudy Frickert or Elwood P Suggins. He doesn't.
So, for those looking for a wild and crazy version of A Christmas Carol you COULD be disapointed. However, as a dedicated Winters fan, I enjoy this recording.

Jonathan Winters reads from Dicken's own version written for public readings, so it moves along nicely, never dragging or labored.

You'll want to pick up several copies of this CD for friends as a welcomed Christmas surprise.

A very intertaining & interesting rendition of my favorite Christmas story, "A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens". I have over 30 different versions of this classic and this one is the most unique. If you are a collector of "A Christmas Carol" you need to at least take a look.

The brilliant Jonathan Winters voices nearly all the characters in this classic Christmas story. True to the book, only a few words have been altered or omitted (an example is "treadmill", which held a quite different meaning in Dickens' time - it was a form of workhouse torture). Sound effects are marvelous, without being overpowering. NPR stations sometimes play this in December, but I'm glad to have my own CD. I wish all of Dickens' works,in any form, would be so respectfully produced.

I very much enjoyed this rendition of "A Christmas Carol". Jonathan Winters is wonderful doing all the different male voices, as well as the woman who does all the female voices. It is very entertaining.

Jonathan Winters is a tremendously talented comedian, but he also makes an excellent well-rounded actor as this recordings demonstrates. His Scrooge is mean, troubled and seemingly irredeemable but as Mr. Winters makes his way through the story he shows us a quite complex and interesting portrait of the infamous miser. Just so you know there is a female actress to do the female parts and there is music and sound effects throughout the story to make it well paced and impossible to take your ears off of it. Although I don't want to give too much away Mr. Winters gives a Ghost Of Christmas Present with a Scottish accent! This is a wonderful way to help celebrate Christmas!

I never thought I'd find something to rival Patrick Stewart's one man show, but this is a thoroughly entertaining production especially considering the "reader" is American!

Jonathan Winters does a good job of narrating this Christmas classic, but the abridgment is pretty severe. Too much good stuff is left out. I prefer the unabridged Jim Dale version. My favorite is the unabridged cassette version read by Paul Scofield, but it seems to be out of print. If I could find that one on CD, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.