Patrick Stewart's 1991 recording of his one-man version of "A Christmas Carol" is extremely faithful to its source, but it's not just him reading the whole book.
The CD version is two discs, with Disc One clocking in at 48 minutes and Disc Two at 59. So, that's an hour and 47 minutes, which certainly gives plenty of time to tell the story.
I'm not sure how long it would take to read the entire book out loud, but longer than the allotted time. There's a lot of descriptive narrative than can easily be cut, however, and some extraneous dialogue.
It's interesting what Patrick Stewart left out and one very interesting thing that he added!
For our purposes right now, we'll just talk about some of the things that are omitted, without really going over what's left in, as most everything is left in.
The lone sound effect not made by Stewart himself is at the very beginning, when we hear what seems to be a cold wind blowing. This stops at the point when we hear that "Old Marley was as dead as a doornail," then does not reappear.
What's clear right away is that Mr. Stewart is using the original text, but with a bit of judicious editing. He doesn't really change any of the wording, but rearranges some just a bit and leaves out some chunks that don't really advance the story.
For example, when Fred comes into Scrooge's office at the beginning, every word he and Scrooge say is in the book, but the order in which they say some of it is changed and Scrooge does not ask Fred why he got married. Not sure why and you have to think about it to notice.
When Scrooge is back home and the bells ring before Marley's Ghost appears, you get the idea that Patrick Stewart really likes to make bell sounds. He does it a lot!
No gravy joke directed at Marley, by the way. Scrooge doesn't try to pass any of that visit off as indigestion.
When the first ghost is about to appear, we get more bells. These are overdubbed with Scrooge's snoring and muttering. This is the only time something like this is done. Otherwise, you can easily imagine the whole thing being done live.
I hadn't heard this recording in a while, and in the meantime, Stewart's made for TV version of "A Christmas Carol" came out. One of the things that drove me crazy in that TV-movie was that Scrooge's sister was named "Fran." Certainly Patrick Stewart must have known her name is "Fan" if he performed his one-man show so many times, right?
So, I was wondering what name he would use when Scrooge goes back into the past with the first spirit. You know what, though? Young Ebenezer does not talk at all, so his sister is not named! What's up with that? Isn't that strange? We may never know if Patrick Stewart knows the right name!
Anyway, I think the biggest thing in the whole piece that's omitted is the scene of Belle being happily married. I don't know why, as I think it's a powerful scene. Charles Dickens himself took that out of his public reading version, so is that why it's not here either?
I've heard some criticism of that scene based on the premise that Scrooge would not have dreamt something he didn't actually experience. But it's not a dream!
Anyway, in the present at the Cratchits' house, there's no talk of Peter starting a job or Martha being a milliner's apprentice, but most everything else is there. Including Tiny Tim's song in what is perhaps the wackiest moment of all!
The visit to Fred's party is very short. No games, no mention of Topper or the sisters.
When the future segment comes around, Scrooge does not say, "Ghost of the future! I fear you more than any spectre I have seen." Some other lines I like here and there are not used, but I wasn't consulted about this project!
In the scene at Old Joe's when the charwoman (not Mrs. Dilber) produces the bedcurtains, Joe does not mention how she took them rings and all. On Christmas morning, however, when Scrooge finds himself in his own bed, he says they were not torn down, rings and all. That's the one thing that perhaps slipped by in the editing. But that's nitpicking.
Then Scrooge does the crazy weird laugh that sounds more like he's choking, which is repeated in that TV-movie. It's odd in both.
Then we get a whole bit that was added in:
"Scrooge found himself near the open door of a church. He went inside and for the first time as a man, joined his voice with those of his fellow creatures in a Christmas hymn."
He then croaks out "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" as if he's rusty at singing, then gets stronger as a he goes along. Is this purely an excuse for Patrick Stewart to show off a little? Probably, but it's fun and is pretty good faux-Dickensian!
The corresponding passage from the book? "He went to church." Boom!
While we're changing some things, about the only other noticeable deviation from the book is when Scrooge goes to Fred's house. Here we told that, "A young housemaid answered," rather than, "Nice girl! Very," which is a bit creepy anyway, so good change!
So, on the whole, an extremely faithful adaptation of "A Christmas Carol" told in a most entertaining manner.
I think Mr. Stewart's TV-movie is OK, but this audio recording is a blast, and, to me, by far the better of his two adapataions available for home entertainment!
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