The BIGGEST little
Miracle
This heart-warming musical is directed by Thomas C. Graff, songs by Matthew Skylar, lyrics by Chad Beguelin and book by Thomas Meehan and Bob Martin (based on the film, Elf, by David Berenbaum). Musical direction and conducting by Cyndy Ramsey-Rier and choreography by Terry Brock and Cherie Price. It is playing through December18th at their space, 368 S. State St. in Lake Oswego (free parking lot in the rear). For more information on the show and Covid policies, go to their website www.lakewood-center.org or call 503-635-3901.
Tis the Season for
stories of hope and good cheer…and, boy, do we need that now! There are basically two perspectives: The Biblical view, with the birth of Christ,
and the Santa Claus slant, with merry, ole St. Nick. But the three most popular films deal with
Redemption, as in, “It’s A Wonderful Life,” Dickens’s, “A Christmas Carol,” and
“Miracle on 34th Street.” Also,
they all have one more thing in common:
The importance of Family, whether Holy, Jolly or, in the case of, Elf, perhaps,
the meaning of the ancient philosophy, it takes a whole village to raise a
child…thus, Family, in the most Universal sense of the word!
Once upon a time, on
Christmas Eve, while jolly Santa (Mark Pierce) was delivering presents at one
household, a baby climbed into his toy sack and was inadvertently whisked off
to the North Pole. Thirty years later, cheerful
but naïve, Buddy (Jeremy Anderson-Sloan), the human elf, has a yearning to find
his real family and walks thousands of miles to New York City to find his
father, Walter Hobbs (Jeremy Southard), who is a rather grumpy executive of a
Children’s book publishing company, Greenway.
He has a rude
awaking, though, when he discovers people do not believe in Santa, or
Christmas, other than in the “commercial” sense. Walter’s wife, Emily (Sophie MacKay) is a
pleasant enough lady and her daughter, Michael (Stella MacKay), is a nerd with
no thought of the magic of Christmas.
The employees at Walter’s business including Deb (Aurora C. Gooch), an
executive assistant, and the big honcho himself, Greenway (Michael Streeter), have
little regard for Christmas, other than the monies it generates for them. Even Buddy’s new love interest, Jovie
(Camille Trinka), is rather a glum young lady.
But don’t you all
know, this will just change dramatically with the entrance of innocence in the
guise of Buddy, Santa and his elves, and the changed hearts of citizens via
dance, music and songs. Yes, this seems
like a familiar, feel-good, seasonal story (and it is) but the cast, musicians,
dancers, crew, all dust off this familiar tale and through their own Magic,
give it a Life that goes well beyond the pages of a bedtime story, which bursts
through that fourth wall and permeates the audience with warmth and good will
and seems to say, “God Bless Us Every One!”
The MacKay’s are
real, as mother and daughter, and you can sense the true family ties within
them. Southard plays just the right
balance between a grouchy old man and the inner life of a lonely soul, just
waiting to have his bubble burst. Trinka
waffles between being a hardened urbanite and the waifish child beneath, just
waiting to be discovered. And Gooch’s
Deb, becomes transformed, but you sense, Streeter’s Greenway never will, as
Corporate Greed will, unfortunately, always have its oily hands around the
throat of Middle America.
But Anderson-Sloan
is Amazing! In my opinion, better than
the film, Buddy. He actually oozes charm,
goodness and the child-like innocence that is too often lost in adults and much
too soon, as well. If he is this year’s
poster child for the Christmas Spirit on stage, we have much to be thankful
for! Also, Terry Brock
(co-choreographer) as the Macy’s store manager, almost steals the show with her
tap-dancing number, with the ensemble.
And a special shout-out to the chorus/ensemble, they are truly the heart
of a production, as they are here, too!
Ramsey-Rier and her
band of renown are splendid and they do Not make the fatal flaw that often
orchestras do in a musical, they do NOT over power the
actors/singers…Bravo! and Brock and
Price as choreographers have some terrific numbers and an ensemble of dancers
to match. And Graff as chief magic maker
on this production, out does himself. A
long-time teacher/director/performer in the Portland area, his obvious talent
shows brilliantly here (they couldn’t have chosen a better director for this
project), “May he Live Long and
Prosper!”
One more thing, just
as an exercise in Imagination, before too long, sit down and write a letter to
Santa of hopes and dreams for Christmas--that you can do for others in the
coming year. And write them in
long-hand, too, (if you still remember how to do that). Then send it off to Santa at the North Pole,
but keep a list for yourself, and next year at this time, see how much of it
came true.
I highly recommend
this show. If you do see it, please tell
them Dennis sent you.
--DJS
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