It's necessary evil time again, as theatre companies don their holiday spirit in a big way, attempting to fill the depleted coffers that have resulted from their more daring early season productions. This year's holiday shows are even more important since donations have disappeared as a result of 9/11. The only new holiday offering comes from Phoenix Theatre. An American Holiday is the brainchild of Artistic Director Michael Barnard and Jim Linde. This fusion of holiday spirit with unbridled patriotism creates a strange amalgam that could only work at this peculiar point in history. It features great singers, good acting, a myriad of Christmas songs and patriotic ballads, and a reuse of part of the Applause set. Holiday shows are mounted to fill houses, but the Saturday night crowd, while obviously receptive to this mix of nostalgia, Christmas cheer, and flag-waving, barely filled half the smaller Little Theatre space.
An American Holiday is a cute concept, if a bit heavy on the sugar for my taste. It's Christmastime in the late 50s. Popular MBC Network sitcom The Starrs Next Door is offering their holiday television special. Though their kids are M.I.A. because of network shenanigans, Sheldon and Bernice Starr, and their accompanist and hanger-on Gailard, are hosting a party on their NYC apartment soundstage. This special features Perry Como-like singer named Eddy Tripoli, back from the Army on a weeklong pass, and Tuesday Weld-like actress Sheila Lambert, whose eyes are set on Eddy and her own public exposure. Utilizing Eddy's Army angle, the production is able to insert not only a host of old and new Christmas chestnuts but several old and new American-based tunes to satisfy the neo-patriotism that has swept our land. It also features extensive audience participation, as we become the members of the studio audience, play games, win prizes, and share some holiday treats.
While I bristled at Phoenix Theatre's surreptitious sponsorship plugs and the show's relentless cheeriness, I had to admit that the authors have been true to this kind of holiday special. The actors sell this product with complete earnestness, and while it's not groundbreaking, it is rather sweet. Director Linde has done nothing unique here. The piece is spirited, paced effectively, and pushes all the buttons it can to spread its cheer. It rarely seeks to step beyond the realm of the familiar, save for a few clever phone bits. It generally offers conventional jokes and ploys, and what little dramatic tension exists is so transparent, it does nothing to get in the way of the wide smiles and over-the-top kitsch.
The cast is full of strong singers who give their glib characters as much attention to detail as they deserve. Nick Cartell is the strongest in both departments. His beautiful tenor voice sparkles and the two very different characters he portrays are well presented. Stephen Goodfriend and Laura Freeman, who portray the TV husband and wife, are also excellent singers. Freeman presses her Donna Reed-like character a bit hard, sometimes going a little too far to sell a joke. Conversely, Goodfriend seems a tad too pulled-back in what could be a Danny Thomas-like character, but instead comes off as Fred MacMurray's softer-spoken younger brother. Acting is Megan Morgan's strength. She is very cute as both Marjorie and Sheila, though her beautiful voice is soft and hard to hear during her solos. Always droll is Jerry Wayne Harkey as Gailard, perfectly tickling the ivories and talking fondly of his never-seen wife and kids.
To call Joaquin Torrans' set "designed" is a bit of a stretch. He's instead lifted Margo's apartment set from Applause and dressed it with some pieces from Driving Miss Daisy and some bunting-like Christmas ornaments. Credit is deserved only for ingeniously setting it off in a soundstage space. Nykol Dedreu's lighting heavily utilizes gel shifters that are too noisy for the small space, and features very saturated colors that call attention to the fact that this is a theatre piece, not a black-and-white television presentation. Though generally solid, I'm surprised that Freeman did not jam a candy cane into costume designers' Marjorie Bell and Cari S. Smith's collective hearts for the travesty she was forced to wear. The only way to describe this unflattering creation is as a holly-jolly half-teddy holding up a kilt overstuffed with crinolines.
On hearing the concept for this holiday show, I hoped for something different. Unfortunately, this piece is too grounded in recent events to potentially survive much beyond our current war on terror. I really wanted to leave in a holiday spirit, but instead left with aching fillings.
Production Details:
An American Holiday by Jim
Linde and Michael Barnard
Phoenix Theatre
Phoenix Theatre's Little Theatre, Phoenix (For a
map to location, click this
link)
(602) 254-2151
December 6th - 23rd, 2001