By Alec Clayton
I have been commenting on community theater since 2004, reviewing on average one show a week, meaning approximately 468 shows so far — including far too many repeats of the same show or versions of the same show, which is why I dread the holiday season. Not another take on “A Christmas Carol!”
But this year I’ve been given the gift of brand new shows for the season.
Harlequin, which has done 17 versions of their original “Stardust” Christmas show, is doing a brand new, original holiday musical comedy called “A Christmas Survival Guide” written by James Hindman and Ray Roderick, with musical arrangements by John Glaudini.
Hindman has appeared in five Broadway productions, including “The Scarlet Pimpernel”, “1776”, and “City of Angels”. He has also been a cast member of numerous Off Broadway shows and national tours, such as “Dancing at Lughnasa,” “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” and “Cats.”
Roderick is a writer, director and actor who was in, among many other shows, the original Broadway cast of “Cats.”
Harlequin co-founder Linda Whitney, who is directing this show, said, “It is an intimate cabaret-style review with song, dance and skits. It’s warm, funny, and touching. We’re in the present day where everyone’s holiday is stressed by contemporary concerns, irritations, distractions, and obligations that sap the energy we need to really appreciate the meaning of the occasion. In the show, the ‘Survival Guide’ itself is a book written by a pop psychiatrist that the cast references to find ways to make Christmas happy. All want to escape the aura of loneliness that envelops many in an age of ‘singles.’ We visit surprising locations and events including Santa’s Village, a slumping cocktail party, hear a lament from a fed-up Mrs. Claus, to name a few. Elvis drops by with his own kind of celebration when things get out of hand. The piano player even gets involved and adds his own variation on the theme. It’s a holiday show for all ages, and it’s a charming and funny antidote to whatever dread we feel about our most tyrannical holiday.”
Featured actors include the highly energetic and versatile Christian Doyle, who wowed audiences in last summer’s “Summer Session: Set in the 70s” and did an amazing Charlie Chaplin impersonation in “Stardust Seranade,” the final show in the Stardust series; the awe-inspiring Antonia Darlene, South Sound’s answer to Aretha Franklin; and Amy Shephard, a singer and dancer well known for her work with Olympia Family Theatre. Plus a guy named Kenny (a puppet that looks like he belongs on Sesame Street).
The show opens Nov. 23 and runs through Dec. 31. There will be a Christmas Eve matinee and New Years Eve of New York Time show with free champagne. More information can be found on Harlequin’s website.
This year’s holiday musical from Capital Playhouse is “Nuncrackers,” one of many sequels and spinoffs from the funny, irreverent and ever-popular “Nunsense,” which opened in 1985 at the Off-Broadway Cherry Lane Theatre and has since grown into an international phenomenon.
Here’s the story: The Little Sisters of Hoboken, who ran a leper colony on an island south of France, discover that their cook, Sister Julia, Child of God, accidentally killed the other fifty-two residents of the convent with her tainted vichyssoise. The Mother Superior had a vision in which she was told to start a greeting card company to raise funds for the burials. They made a pile of money but blew it. With four deceased nuns on ice in the deep freeze and no money bury them, they decide to stage a variety show. The show they put on includes irreverent but loving digs at the church, crazy songs-and-dance numbers, and audience participation.
Director Heidi Fredericks explains: “’Nuncrackers’ is a continuation of the story of the Little Sisters of Hoboken, and brings back all five nuns from (the Capital Playhouse production of) ‘Nunsense’: Sisters Amnesia, Robert Anne, Hubert, Leo and Reverend Mother Regina. It is set at Christmastime, and it is the first ‘TV Special’ filmed in the basement studio of their convent for local cable access (which they paid for with winnings from the Publisher’s Clearing House Drawing). It is filled with traditional carols (‘Joy to the World’) and future classics (‘Santa Ain’t Comin’ to Our House’ and ‘It’s Better to Give Than to Receive’), an uproarious Nuns’ ‘Nutcracker,’ and the usual humor and mayhem audiences have come to expect from the Sisters. The spectacular cast includes Matt Flores, Kate Ayers, Stephanie Nace (who is reprising her role as Sister Amnesia after her award-winning turn in ‘Nunsense’), Alessa Daniel and Lauren O’Neill as the Sisters, and featuring audience favorite Patrick Wigren as Father Virgil. The Sisters’ stage manager is played by Richard Wheeler and we have four young people playing children from the convent school: Jack Steiner, Claire Halperin, McKenna Soderberg and Skyler Zimmerman.”
“Nuncrackers” runs Nov. 23-Dec. 16. For theatre and ticket information, click here.
And we have a world premiere this holiday season: Olympia Family Theatre is doing the premiere of an all-new musical adaptation of Kenneth Grahame’s classic children’s tale “The Wind in the Willows.” OFT Artistic Director Jen Ryle describes it as a show about “finding your place in the world and the enduring power of friendship.”
“Toad is always keen to take on the latest fad, but his new obsession with motor-cars might lead to ruin,” Ryle said. “Can loyal Mole, clever Rat and stalwart Badger save Toad from himself, and take back Toad Hall from the weasels of the Wild Wood?”
OFT presents accomplished, professional-level adult actors in shows for children of all ages. Featured in “The Wind in the Willows” will be some of the area’s best-known actors, including Jason Haws, known for many outstanding roles at Harlequin and elsewhere, including one of the most challenging roles any actor can have, that of John Merrick in “The Elephant Man;” Ryan Holmberg, one of the most exciting up-and-coming actors in Olympia; and Heather Christopher, who has been in more plays around here than I can count on all my fingers and toes. Rounding out the all-star cast are Kate Arvin, Ingrid Pharris Goebel, Kyle Henick, Samantha Chandler, Korja Giles, and Priscilla Zal.
The show opens Dec. 1 and runs through Dec. 23. Showtime and additional information can be found here.
