REVIEW: It's a Wonderful White Christmas at Pemberly! Or...3 in 1 Winter Weekend

It's a Wonderful Life, Hartford Stage, Hartford, CT

www.hartfordstage.org

through December 26, 2021

Irving Berlin's White Christmas, Colonial Theater, Pittsfield, MA

www.berkshiretheatregroup.org

through December 23, 2021

Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, Playhouse on Park, West Hartford, CT

www.playhouseonpark.org

through December 19, 2021

by Lisa M. Covi

The end of the year brings some a yearning for familiar traditions and home. Three theatrical experiences offer satisfaction and delight with a heaping dollop of holiday joy.

Photo by T. Charles Erickson  

As a self-professed “It's a Wonderful Life” fanatic, I was both satisfied and surprised by Joe Landry's adaptation into a Radio Play at Hartford Stage. The production delivered treasured humorous moments and extended the sentimentality of this morality tale. As a radio play, the cast included new characters; the actors who read multiple roles on the stage that evokes a 1940's Hartford studio. This storytelling device provides delightful juxtapositions: Freddie Filmore as the announcer performs several scenes between the scheming Henry Potter and bumbling Uncle Billy channeling each character with change of hat. Jennifer Bereilles alternates between the flirtatious Violet Bick and earthy Ernie the cab driver among other roles. The audience was captivated by the interactions between the radio actors who were also able evoke pathos from the story. For someone unfamiliar with the film, the pace of the story may be initially hard to follow. It may be an inadequate substitution for bringing your kids to “A Christmas Carol.” However, Act II adds a dramatic element of direct action as the depiction of George's wish come true sweeps away the radio elements adding costuming, blocking and lighting as they assume the trappings of a traditional play. The choice to add endearing Spanish phrases by Geraldo Rodriguez to George Bailey's dialog and the casting of Shirine Babb as a darker skinned actor playing both Mary and Joseph (the angel's supervisor) creates some multicultural inclusion to the depiction of small town life. The audience also appreciated the local color provided by the performance of radio commercials for now defunct G. Fox department store, and reference to local resident Mark Twain.

Photo by Emma K. Rothenberg-Ware

The Berkshire Theater Group's production of “White Christmas “at the Colonial Theater also has as point of departure, a classic film set after World War II. However, this production sticks more closely to the original musical theater format. Veterans Wallace and Davis find themselves at a Vermont Inn at Christmas and decide to put on a show with the Haynes sisters to save the faltering business and honor their Commanding Officer, the owner, Henry Waverly. Cast and crew delivered an energetic experience that set toes tapping, audience joining in and holiday joy spilling out after the curtain call. The dazzling musical numbers, costumes and props channeled many of the film's choices and transported us to studio productions that showcased and celebrated theatrical show business. Although Michael Wartella and Michael Starr gave strong individual performances as Wallace and Davis, the plot lacks some momentum in Act I. Fans of the number “Sisters” will be delighted that Judy and Betty Haynes are played by real-life sisters Alanna and Claire Saunders. The final number of Act I turns around the pace with “Blue Skies.” This show-stopper has the costumes and choreography of a Fosse/Verdon piece and the synchronized tap dancing support the strong melody but spare lyrics of Irving Berlin. Allison Briner Dardenne's vocals as Martha Watson add to the upswing of energy in Act II especially with the sisters in “Falling out of Love Can be Fun.” Among the stellar ensemble, Aliah James, Kelly Sheehan who have speaking parts and newcomer Joel Douglas gave impressive contributions. This production delivers a classic show with the caliber of performance that meets the higher bar for Broadway musical theater recent years have raised.

Photo by Meredith Longo 

The most traditionally dramatic of the three productions is the 2016 play by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon, “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberly” now at Playhouse on Park. Two years after the events in Jane Austen's “Pride and Prejudice” finds Miss Mary Bennet, and married sisters Elizabeth, Jane and Lydia spending the 1815 holiday at the Darcy's estate. There are resemblances and differences to film and television productions in the actors portrayals. More importantly, the cast succeeds in immersing us in both Austen's world where women chafe against social restrictions and captivate with the familial relations among almost every character. The story is familiar, a comic romance among Mary, played by Sydney Torres who has since come of age and Arthur de Bough played by Ted Gibson, a relative of Darcy's newly returned from Oxford. In modern style, this young couple are the nerdiest in their set, preferring books and the life of the mind to preoccupation with emotion and status of their times. Elizabeth Darcy (Dakota Mackey-McGee) has erected a Christmas tree, a rare German tradition in Georgian England, Jane Bingley (Kristin Fulton) is expecting her first child and Lydia Wickham (Laura Axelrod) creates havoc and worry arriving sans husband. Another modern touch is the changing relationship between old friends Darcy (Griffin Stanton-Ameisen) and Bingley (Karim Nematt) who have adapted to a less conventional Bennet marriage and learned from past mistakes. The talk-back after the Sunday matinee confirmed the cast and director's great enthusiasm for the material and their exuberance of returning to live theater after the pandemic hiatus. The blocking of the production for audience seated on three sides of the stage provide opportunities for various actors to showcase their movement and self-expression in careful English dialect. Set design, costumes and hair make for a faithful period depiction. You need not be a Jane Austen fan to enjoy the production; it may also be a humorous salve to many of us facing familial drama of our own during the December holidays.

All three productions are enjoyable and well worth the time and money for live theater. I would recommend them as traditional introductions to different genres for younger people, some of whom were in attendance. In fact, these classic stories performed with such care and feeling would be appropriate for multiple viewings.