TV REVIEW : Handsome ‘Christmas Carol’ Ballet on A

The problems of creating a full-evening ballet from “A Christmas Carol” seem obvious, but Northern Ballet Theatre develops resourceful strategies in a handsome BBC production airing twice tonight on A&E; cable.

With no significant ballerina role and a miserly leading character who feels like dancing only at the very end, Charles Dickens’ tale doesn’t lend itself to classical choreography--and Massimo Moricone doesn’t force the issue. Instead, he defines Scrooge through pantomime, then has him move through a world (and memories) of dancing: formal yet lively social dances as well as rowdy, musical comedy-style numbers, plus a few none-too-impressive ballet interludes.

In addition, the cast keeps making good on the work’s title by showing its prowess at choral singing, with the score by Carl Davis also incorporating plenty of familiar seasonal ditties in its instrumental passages. Tiny Tim (Ryan Ward) is a boy soprano in this version and Cratchit (William Walker) as adept at caroling as he is at high-flying batterie.

Unfortunately, Jeremy Kerridge’s portrayal of Scrooge remains way off base: crudely monstrous in the opening scenes, then dissolving immediately into mindless sentimentality after viewing the supernatural lessons conjured up for his benefit.

The defective, incomplete review tape supplied by A&E; contained only a fragment of the Christmas Future sequence, but enough remained of the final scene to display Kerridge’s prowess at twitchy, eccentric character dancing.

Based on a stage production that boasted an atmospheric, revolving, two-level set by Lez Brotherston, the ballet has been adapted for television with an emphasis on spectral effects. Director Kriss Rusmanis often uses close-ups to enlarge performances that would look over-the-top even if you were sitting in the third balcony and the flow of the dancing is frequently lost as a result.

But the British company always looks spirited and well-schooled, and Rusmanis does preserve the staging’s emphasis on the plight of the poor, a problem not to be resolved by just one miser’s conversion.

* Northern Ballet Theatre dances “A Christmas Carol” tonight at 6 and 10 on A&E; cable.