It's the time of year when Atlanta theaters are as energized as Santa and his elves.
From Horizon Theatre’s naughty and irreverent “The Santaland Diaries” to the Center for Puppetry Arts’ sweetly nostalgic “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” there is much merriment in the making. Here’s a look at some of the season’s best material on stages from Midtown to Lawrenceville and beyond.
Alliance Theatre: “A Christmas Carol”
David De Vries finds himself in the unenviable position of replacing Chris Kayser, the Atlanta actor who played Scrooge for 16 seasons at the Alliance Theatre.
De Vries admits that his first opportunity to inhabit the role of the irascible heart at the center of Charles Dickens’ Victorian classic “A Christmas Carol” is “a little daunting.” But it’s also business as usual for the seasoned actor.
“I’ve replaced all my career,” De Vries says on a recent morning before heading out to rehearsals. “I replaced Gary Beach, who was nominated for a Tony in ‘Beauty and the Beast.’ I’ve replaced in ‘Wicked.’ “
Now the seasoned performer who starred as Lumiere on Broadway and Dr. Dillamond in the national tour of “Wicked” is getting a chance at a “plum role” he’s been eyeing for years.
He finds it to be an emotionally affecting experience, and is recognizing more “Scroogelike behaviors” in his past than he’d care to admit.
“The journey of transformation that Scrooge takes is one that I would like to emulate and I think that other people would like to emulate,” De Vries says. “Scrooge says: ‘Say that all hope is not lost for me.’
"And I think that's powerful stuff. I think that all of us who have lived long enough … understand that there are lots of choices that maybe you would have done differently. There are different roads that you could have taken, and the possibility of renewal and rebirth is a universal message that's iterated in religions and spiritual teachings the world over. So I think it has real value for each and every one of us." Nov. 21-Dec. 24. $17.50-$68. Alliance Theatre, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E., Atlanta. 404-733-5000, alliancetheatre.org.
RELATED: AJC Holiday Events guide, including holiday light displays, the Pink Pig and holiday home tours.
Serenbe Playhouse: “The Snow Queen”
Serenbe Playhouse artistic director Brian Clowdus says he is a die-hard fan of Disney’s “Frozen” because it features a pair of sibling soul mates.
“I connected so much to that story because of my connection to my sister,” Clowdus says of his sibling, Atlanta photographer BreeAnne Clowdus.
So for his first holiday production at his Chattahoochee Hills theater, Clowdus commissioned playwright Rachel Teagle to adapt a new treatment of Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen,” the fairy tale that provided the source material for Disney’s computer-animated blockbuster. Because Serenbe Playhouse operates without a physical space and frequently situates its productions outdoors, it also helped that “The Snow Queen” occurs in a winter wonderland.
“We knew it needed to be set in a cold environment since it’s outside and cold,” Clowdus says. “We are setting it in the newest Serenbe development, Swann Ridge. It has an old-world village feel and literally feels like you have stepped into a different time period and country. There is even this huge bridge over a stream where a lot of the action will take place.”
In Teagle's telling, playmates Gerda (Allie Southwood) and Kai (Will Skelton) get swept away by the Snow Queen (Brittany Ellis). "The Snow Queen is ultimately touched by Gerda and Kai and finds that her heart is not as frozen as she thought." Dec. 4-21. $15-$20. Serenbe Playhouse, 10640 Serenbe Lane, Chattahoochee Hills. 770-463-1110, serenbeplayhouse.com.
Theatrical Outfit: “The Gift of the Magi”
In the classic O. Henry short story, a young, penniless married couple sell off prized possessions to buy each other Christmas gifts. In a stroke of irony, their presents are rendered useless in the end.
The tale of Jim and Della is not lost on actors Nick Arapoglou and Caroline Freedlund. Engaged in real life, the couple returns for their installment of the Theatrical Outfit production.
“When they exchange gifts, it’s like, ‘Whoops!’ ” Arapoglou says. “They kind of find the true meaning of Christmas, that the giving and the being together and the love is the most important thing. Not the gifts and the money itself.”
For “Magi,” playwright Mark St. Germain weaves in another O. Henry story, “The Cop and the Anthem,” and composer Randy Courts creates an original score. “So there’s actually two stories that kind of meet in the middle,” Arapoglou explains.
In the second thread, Atlanta favorite Glenn Rainey plays the character Soapy, a bum who wants to get arrested so he can enjoy a free meal in jail. “He doesn’t want to have a job, and my character wants to have a job,” Arapoglou says.
As for how they select Christmas gifts for each other, Freedlund says: "I think we both give gifts that are more about the sentiment than the actual value, just because it's more fun." Dec. 6-21. $30-$35. Theatrical Outfit, 84 Luckie St. N.W., Atlanta. 1-877-725-8849, theatricaloutfit.org.
Aurora Theatre: “Christmas Canteen 2014”
The Lawrenceville playhouse started its annual holiday revue as an imagining of a World War II-era show in which USO singers cheered up weary soldiers.
Now in its 19th season, “Christmas Canteen” has morphed into a musical celebration of the holidays that crosses genres and time periods. It features everything from Donny and Marie Osmond medleys to music director Ann-Carol Pence’s signature rendition of “Silent Night.”
But the show, directed by producing artistic director Anthony Rodriguez and updated each year with new material by writer/performer Brandon O’Dell, remains true to its roots with a military tribute.
“While we do a really beautiful version of ‘I’ll Be Seeing You (in All the Familiar Places),’ we have this slide show of all those pictures (of service men and women) that patrons have sent in over the years playing in the background,” Rodriguez says.
As for Pence’s gutsy “Silent Night,” “she sings with an abandon you would not believe,” Rodriguez says. “The one year we took it out, I don’t want to even say how many cards and letters I got telling me that it had to be back in the show.”
For his part, Rodriguez stays busy performing his one-man telling of "Christmas Carol," which alternates with "The 12 Dates of Christmas," an edgy and irreverent solo show performed by Aurora education director Jaclyn Hoffman. Nov. 20-Dec. 21. $20-$5o. Aurora Theatre, 128 E. Pike St., Lawrenceville. 678-226-6222, auroratheatre.com.
Also keep in mind:
"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Through Dec. 28. $9.25-$20.50. Center for Puppetry Arts, 1404 Spring St. N.W., Atlanta. 404-873-3391, puppet.org.
"The Santaland Diaries." Nov. 21-Dec. 31. $25-$40. Horizon Theatre, 1083 Austin Ave. N.E., Atlanta. 404-584-7450, horizontheatre.com.
Atlanta Ballet's Nutcracker. With the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra. Dec. 11-28,2014.Tickets start at $20. Fox Theatre. www.atlantaballet.com
Holiday Dance: Additional productions of "The Nutcracker" across metro Atlanta
Holiday home tours in Midtown, Norcross, Marietta and the he Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles' Home for the Holidays Designer Showhouse.
Atlanta Holiday Guide: Events, Shopping, Recipes, Year in Review
About the Author
