Last holiday season, artistic director L. Walter Stearns and musical director Eugene Dizon resurrected their popular musical version of "It's a Wonderful Life," which I didn't feel measured up to Porchlight's usual high standards. The talented cast struggled to rise above the lackluster script and score, and for a classic film to succeed as a stage musical it has to at least equal the original.
Happily, this year is quite a different story. Porchlight has energized the Chicago holiday stage scene with a new dramatic adaptation of "Miracle on 34th Street." The story should be familiar: Doris Walker, in charge of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, discovers at the last minute that she has to replace her Santa Claus with an elderly gentleman named Kris Kringle. She is persuaded to keep him on as the department store's official Jolly Ol' Elf. Embittered by her recent divorce, Doris has taught her young daughter, Susan, to be a realist in life. But when Mr. Kringle claims to really be Santa he sways Susan into believing in him. Suddenly Doris's lawyer friend, Fred Gailey, finds himself defending Mr. Kringle's authenticity in a New York court of law, with the end result challenging even the most hardened non-believer.
Porchlight's play is based upon both the Valentine Davies novel and the classic 1947 film. The simple production features traditional Christmas carols between scenes (which cover set changes and set the mood for upcoming action) as well as a talented cast.
Handsome Karl Hamilton and lovely Christa Buck are sheer perfection as Fred Gailey and Doris Walker. Not only do they look like John Payne and Maureen O'Hara, the movie's romantic leads, they also have that wide-eyed innocence so remniscent of Hollywood's Golden Era that you cheer for and believe in them unconditionally. But the play belongs to verteran Chicago actor Jim Sherman as Kris Kringle. His honest, unaffected portrayal of the man who would be Santa will bring a tear to your eye and stay with you long after the curtain falls. In fact, children attending this production are invited to stay afterward to visit with Mr. Kringle and share a Christmas wish or two. If you didn't believe in Santa Claus before this show, you will by the time you leave.
Reviewed by Centerstage!
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