REVIEWS of the 2006 production

LAist (Recommended!)

Today, the City of Los Angeles began the restoration of the Owens River.  Don't know what that is?  Don't care?  You should.  And we have a way that's probably the best 2 hours you'll ever have learning about the history of Los Angeles.

If LACityNerd is a comedian, then the nerd's anonymous identity would be leaked as Bill Robens, author of the musical theatre delight known as A Mulholland Christmas Carol, now playing through December 23rd at The Sacred Fools Theater.

Even a theatergoer who was forced to go at the hands of his wife told us he had a great time.  If you were tricked into going to Menopause the Musical with her, give her another chance because you will be laughing within the first minute.

The set is sweet and simple, the metatheatrical puns are everywhere and the actors can actually sing and harmonize.  This isn't musical theatre at the Ahmanson or Pantages with an orchestra and technical microphone systems, this is most nitty-gritty polished small theatre musical in town.

Sad as it is, the producers of the show have let us know that this year will probably be the last year it will be shown due to Actor's Equity, high production costs and small theatre spaces.  Treat yourself with the holiday spirit by learning the history of this "thirsty bitch-goddess" known as Los Angeles.

-- Zach Behrens
©2006 LAist

L.A. CityBeat

Excerpted from "Christmas Spiritedness"
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A much more L.A.-centric Christmas favorite, Bill Robens’s A Mulholland Christmas Carol, has returned for its fifth annual outing, this year at Sacred Fools Theater instead of its previous home at the tinier Theatre of NOTE (the two companies are coproducing). This clever musical has never been more current. The Scrooge-like character is pioneering L.A. water czar William Mulholland, forced by the ghosts of Christmases past and present to watch how he desiccated the Owens Valley on behalf of thirsty L.A. This year the show happened to coincide with the ceremony in which Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa went to the Owens Valley in order to give some of the water back.

When the play’s Mulholland is visited by the ghost of Christmas yet to come, he’s shown a vision of the collapse of a dam he created. But then he wakes up and resolves to change his ways. In real life, Mulholland’s St. Francis Dam actually disintegrated in 1928, creating a terrible flood that killed hundreds. A newspaper article on the lobby wall relates that particular horror story.

But never fear that this might be inappropriate for the yuletide. The show itself is drenched in lighthearted satire, with pumped-up musical numbers and just a splash of the redemptive spirit of the original Dickens. Any theatergoer who uses L.A. water should see it.

-- Don Shirley
©2006 L.A. CityBeat

L.A. TIMES READER REVIEW!

-- Cara King
Pasadena, CA

FEATURE ARTICLE

L.A. TIMES

Excerpted from "Nutcracker again? Go ahead, bring it on!"
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In this year's production of Bill Robens' "A Mulholland Christmas Carol," a Dickens-inspired musical that recasts Scrooge as L.A.'s controversial early water baron William Mulholland, Theatre of NOTE has teamed for the first time with another veteran Hollywood company, Sacred Fools Theater.

References to L.A. history, theater and various holiday film classics "that we poke a happy stick at," are an incentive for audiences to return to catch details they missed before, said director Kiff Scholl.

"I smoosh my own thumbprint on to the show and there's always new cast members, new bits, new harmonies, even new songs."

-- Lynne Heffley
©2006 L.A. Times