Christopher R. Smith, Dynell Leigh, Abby Espiritu, Parissa Koo, Jordan Iosua Taylor, Donnie Riddle and Kolt Atchley (Photo by Lexi Collins)
Reviewed by F. Kathleen Foley
Wisteria Theatre
Through December 21
Frost My Life is the eighth and final show in Wisteria Theater’s inaugural season. Think about that. The eighth show. That’s pretty mind-boggling when you consider that most companies stick to no more than three or four shows a year.
Their beautifully realized recent production of Into the Woods set a high bar for my expectations. Under the imaginatively innovative direction of Brayden Hade, it was solid in practically every particular.
Unfortunately, the present production doesn’t measure up to that standard. Why did such a long and ambitious season wrap up with a klunker? Perhaps it’s a case of “They bit off more than they could chew” or “Their eyes were bigger than their stomach.” Yet Browning’s verse about a man’s reach exceeding his grasp also seems appropriate. Although its current offering miscarries on many levels, the company must be commended for sheer, exhaustive effort.
Brett Takeshita, writer and director of this world premiere and a former programming director at Hallmark, revisits his field of expertise — the Christmas romcom — in this musical Christmas parody, leaving no trope unturned. In Frost, he adheres to the familiar “Big City Bad, Small Town Good” plot line endemic to that genre. (And while I’m thinking about it, how do the actors cast in these TV fantasies consume so many cookies and remain size zeroes?)
After being fired from her high-powered marketing job in L.A., Julie (Parissa Koo) returns to her hometown for the first time in eight years to spend Christmas with her mother (Dynell Leigh). During her visit and in breathlessly short order, Julie falls hard for Brady (Jordan Iosua Taylor), a widowed local dollmaker. So when she gets a sweetheart job offer from her former boss (Christopher R. Smith), she’s torn between her career aspirations and true love. Of course, it will take a Christmas epiphany for her to realize that she can have it all — right here in Small Town Ohio!
Comedy is hard, but parody can be even more difficult. Takeshita attempts to upend Hallmark cliches with something wacky and new, but his innovations are so surreally offbeat they seem more weird than humorous. Far from the typical adorable spright, Brady’s young daughter Kayla (Abby Espiritu) is a mortician in training with a deadly knife fetish who hobnobs with a local coven of witches, while Julie’s horny mom drools over the shirtless Brady’s spectacularly well-toned body. And when Brady’s dolls start talking in deeply demonic voices, Julie renames them Pretty Little Nightmares and spins the glitch into an internet sensation, saving Brady’s business and their romance.
That may sound wildly novel, but the result is an oddly flat enterprise that strains for laughs.
The Wisteria is a small company that has budgetary constraints. Employed so successfully in Into the Woods, this production again relies on economical AI backdrops for the sets While they work here as well, their use engenders some unease about the potential displacement of theatrical designers.
The oddly abbreviated musical numbers are drowned out by a blaring sound mix — otherwise, Takeshita’s staging is brisk and an ebullient cast, which includes Donnie Riddle and Kolt Atchley, commits fully to the material, however flawed.
It would be unfair to judge such a promising new company on a single misfire. Perhaps the folks at Wisteria can take a much-deserved holiday break and return in the New Year with a less hectic company mandate.
Wisteria Theatre, 7061 Vineland Ave., North Hollywood. Thurs-Sat., 8 p.m., Tues. Dec. 16, 8 p.m., Sun., Dec. 21, 3 p.m., thru Dec. 21. www.wisteriatheater.com Running time: one hour and 50 minutes with an intermission.
