Hi friends! Merry Christmas! I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season and been enjoying the best of live theatre in your area. Here’s some quick

thoughts on some holiday shows I’ve been able to see.

A CHRISTMAS STORY- SCERA, OREM

I saw 2 versions of A Christmas Story: The Musical this month and the first at Scera in Orem was my favorite. I’m a big fan of the 1983 classic film, but I think Benj Pasek and Justin Paul have done an excellent job with the music and lyrics for this show as has book writer Joseph Robinette. It captures all the childlike wonder of the movie with heart and a lot of catchy tunes. The folks at Scera have done this show multiple years in a row and they have it down to near-professional levels. It’s very impressive.

It starts with an excellent and large cast that is up for the choreography by Rebecca Boberg. My favorite acting of the group came from Cassidy Gunderson as Mother. Especially her song “What a Mother Does” is sung with empathy and tenderness. it will make most viewers want to call and thank their own mothers.

I also love bops like “When You’re a Wimp” and “A Major Award” all executed well. The 2-story set by Zippy Hellewell is very impressive and the amount of costumes by Kelse Seaver (due to Ralphie’s many fantasy sequences) is daunting to say the least.

Unfortunately A Christmas Story: The Musical finished up its run on 12/21 but keep an eye out for it next year. It’s definitely worth supporting. You can find out more about Scera and their shows here. This is definitely the highlight of the 5 shows logged in this post and one of my favorites of the holiday season.

A CHRISTMAS STORY: THE MUSICAL- HOPEBOX THEATRE, KAYSVILLE

I will only say a few words about A Christmas Story: The Musical at Hopebox. Their theater not only has a wonderful mission, helping an individual fighting cancer with each show (their Hopebox recipient), but they are one of the most consistently reliable community theaters in the state. Unfortunately this production was an off night for them and not up to their normal quality. Everything from the singing, to the sets, to the directing was much more amateur than they typically offer.

For example, when the big fight happens between Ralphie and Farcus they have Ralphie get himself up and then he is standing flailing his arms around swearing. This was such an odd choice as the whole point is he loses his cool and his Mom stops him from fighting. Him walking around and then she stops him is anti-climatic. There were just a lot of strange choices like that and like I said the performances were not on the caliber I expect from Hopebox.

That said, the only reason I have such expectations is they usually deliver on such a high level. Every company has their off night and weaker production. I still highly recommend Hopebox and they have a very fun season coming up. You can find out more here.

THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER: THE MUSICAL- LEHI ARTS COUNCIL, LEHI

I love all things The Best Christmas Pageant Ever from the book, to the play, to the 1983 TV movie, to the new feature film (I even interviewed the director Dallas Jenkins here.) When I heard there is a musical and it was being put on by one of my favorite art councils, Lehi Arts Council, I had to take the chance to see it. Overall it was cute but there were a few things that kept me from loving this version of the show.

The main problem was one of seating. It’s a very small space, which I normally find quite charming but this seat was so obfuscated by the wall it hurt my overall enjoyment of the story. They really should have some kind of warning on the site that you are purchasing an obfuscated seat. It’s common courtesy.

Other than that the show is cute although I think I would prefer to see the one act play over the musical. There was nothing that stood out about the songs that justified an additional hour to the stories. The cast is very talented with a wonderful community spirit and the message of inclusion and hope is moving. Lehi Arts Council has Little Women coming up next and that should be a wonderful production. You can find out more here.

HERE’S LOVE- SANCTUARY THEATRE COMPANY, MIDVALE

When I get a seat at Sanctuary Theatre Company I know I am seeing what I like to refer to as a ‘learning company.’ This is a theatre company with a lot of first time participants both performers and in the technical categories. Sometimes that leads to inspired work such as Evil Dead: The Musical and their Avenue Q. Other times it can be a rough sit. Such was the case with their production of The Miracle on 34th Street (or Here’s Love.) And it’s too bad because this musical isn’t performed often so I was really looking forward to seeing it.

I think Sanctuary may be better off doing edgier material like Evil Dead: the Musical. That seems to suit their performers and space better than something sincere and sweet like Here’s Love. My favorite aspect was their use of the projections to create the parade in the opening numbers. Most of the other aspects just didn’t work for me. This is a learning company and I know they were all doing their best, so I won’t be too hard on them. It just wasn’t for me.

WHITE CHRISTMAS, THE OLD BARN THEARE, FIELDING

It’s always fun for me to try out new to me theater companies. I love the Broadway adaptation of White Christmas and when I saw a company up in Northern Utah, The Old Barn Theatre, was putting it on I had to get a ticket. I

To my surprise, The Old Barn Theatre has been putting on shows for 25 years and it seems to be the main project of the Hull family with director Laura Lee Hull, assistant director Marvin Hull and choreographer MarleeAnn Hull all having multiple roles including being in the cast.

One can definitely sense the family and community spirit with this show and while it is an amateur production it has heart and effort to be enjoyable. I was particularly impressed with the tapping numbers in “Blue Skies” and “I Love a Piano.”

Some of the roles are double cast so I am not sure which actor for Phil Davis I had but he and MarleeAnn as Judy were the highlights of the cast and Marc Jensen had good comedic timing as Ezekiel Foster. I do think that Marvin Hull is too old for the role of Bob Wallace. I know he is supposed to be older than Phil but it was too much and hurt the chemistry.

If I go to another show at the Old Barn Theatre I’ll make sure to sit on the east or west side because a pole blocked my view on the north side. I wish they had more of the action staged in the middle of the stage as opposed to the corners because then any seat could adequately see what is happening. Still, this production of White Christmas was sweet and I’d see something else there if given the chance (I saw the last performance.) You can learn more here.

These logged shows I pay for out of pocket and I’d love to do that as much as possible. If you have a show you’d like to take a look at and write a full review let me know. I also have my patreon which is a great way to support what I do and get some really fun perks. Find out more here.