Back to the Gifts of the
Magi By Betty
Spero Star-Ledger 12/1/00 Altruism inspires a
quartet of holiday shows popping up on local stages
this weekend and next weekend. In the musical telling of
two O. Henry tales at Brundage Park Playhouse in
Randolph, a young couple learns sacrifice
demonstrates love, while a cheery bum cleverly
tries to get arrested, so he may spend Christmas in
a warm cell. Scrooge, synonymous with stinginess,
goes against type and spurs generosity among the
Spring Lake Theatre Company, its audiences and
benefactors, as all the show's proceeds aid needy
families. Chanukah, celebrated under Montana's "Big
Sky," teaches tolerance in "Isaac's Window," a new
musical bowing at Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel in
South Orange. And Somerset Valley Players, enthused
by holiday spirit, invite everyone to their free
"Second Annual Christmas Special," replete with
carols and featuring cider and cookies with the
cast. Songwriters Mark St. Germain and
Randy Courts cull their holiday musical from two stories by
O. Henry, whose tales always have twists. One revolves around a young couple
of modest means, Jim (Rob Evans) and Della (Aimee Kessler),
who sacrifice their most prized possessions for love of one
another. The second story centers on Soapy
Smith (Stewart Shaw), a jolly bum who eats in expensive
restaurants and skips out on the bills, in hope of going to
a warm, dry jail cell. Jeffrey Fiorello plays a newsboy,
Willy, who ties together the tales and keeps the stage
action moving. Fiorello co-directs with Kym Frank.
This show continues a playhouse
custom of steering cheerily away from the Yuletide champ, "A
Christmas Carol." (Last year the theater staged "Babes in
Toyland" and the prior year, "The Best Christmas Pageant
Ever.") "We try to do shows, which aren't
always done," says board member Annette Bertola of Mendham.
"We like to do a musical, and these stories are nice
diversions."
"The Gifts of the Magi"
Get right into the Christmas spirit, as you enter the
Brundage Park Playhouse in Randolph. Carolers will greet you
with seasonal tunes.
