BY SCOTT STIFFLER | Second only to Shakespeare when it comes to inspiring liberal (often horrendous) adaptations, there really is no excuse for messing up Charles Dickens’ beautifully structured tale of Ebenezer Scrooge’s overnight conversion from stingy misanthrope to kind and generous soul. Mr. Magoo and Alastair Sim did very well by the source material, while Fred Flintstone and Kelsey Grammer dropped the ball — and the George C. Scott version is so long and torturous, it was still playing as we went to press.
Limited time and space — but NY Classical Theatre’s two-person “Christmas Carol” gets the job done.
So it comes as a tremendous relief to hear that New York Classical Theatre (whose summertime production of “The Tempest” roamed Battery Park) is behind this brief, but loyal, two-person version of the often-overlong holiday classic. Brevity and wit are on the menu of “A (15-Min!) Christmas Carol,” in which Scrooge will act rotten, see ghosts and change his ways — all before you can finish your lunchtime sandwich.
Free. At 12:30 & 1:30pm, Dec. 10-12, at One Liberty Plaza (meet by the cafe tables). Also, at 12:30 & 1:30pm, Dec. 18-20, at Brookfield Place (220 Vessey St. — meet by the Winter Garden escalators). For more info, visit brookfieldplaceny.com/15minCC and newyorkclassical.org.
