Miracle on 34th Street: A Live Musical Radio Play
Reviewed by Dana Martin
Actors Co-op
Through December 15
The Actors Co-op finds Christmas spirit through 1940’s nostalgia this holiday season. Lance Arthur Smith’s new adaptation of Miracle on 34th Street: A Live Musical Radio Play has serious Christmas spirit, replete with a variety of Christmas music, old-timey adverts and jingly jingles.
The studio audience is gathered and the Lux Radio Broadcast is about to go live as a handful of eager actors file in to the studio ready to voice the evening’s featured presentation, Miracle on 34th Street. The story finds Macy’s employee Doris Walker in a pinch. She’s tasked with hiring a last-minute replacement Santa Claus for the department store’s annual Thanksgiving Day parade. None other than Kris Kringle applies for the gig and he’s an instant sensation. Kris commits to finding the right toy for each child and soon “business as usual” takes an unexpected turn. Kris is forced to defend his true identity and soon a trial is underway to determine Mr. Kringle’s sanity.
Lauren Thompson’s strong vocals serve as a touchstone for many of the evening’s difficult harmonies. Thompson’s Doris Walker is warm, no nonsense and consummately wholesome. Phil Crowley pulls triple duty as the evening’s accompanist, Radio Announcer and reformed department store owner, Mr. Macy. Sal Sabella’s Kris Kringle is the most at ease performance of the evening. Callie Chae Pyken is innocence personified as Gracie DeMarco who voices a precocious young Susan Walker. Pyken’s sweet scenes and charming musical numbers are certainly the production’s highlight.
Director Joseph Leo Bwarie neatly stages the action and makes light use of prop and costume pieces when the actors move in and out of caricature. The musical’s presentational style isn’t fully realized and there’s little sense of who the characters are outside of the character voices/personas donned for the broadcast.
Anthony Lucca’s music direction navigates a wide range of styles and several complex harmonies which the performers execute mostly successfully. Anna Aimee White’s choreography is tidy and well-suited to the tight space. The concentrated movement keeps the story’s action fluid. Tanya Orellana’s set design is a cozily cramped recording studio. Actors negotiate the tight space admirably but aren’t given much room to maneuver. Lighting design by Martha Carter is jolly. Jessica Mills’ hair design is dapper and era-appropriate. Robert Arturo Ramirez’ sound design is well-blended and the vocals remain the central focus.
The actors create ambient sound effects throughout: ringing phones, slamming doors, footsteps and poured coffee. These are never short on charm. The radio play itself meanders in and out of the featured story, depleting any sort of central focus. The show clips along nicely in the first act, but the ballad-heavy second act loses considerable steam and energy and finds several of the performers vocally tired. The performances are charmingly earnest, but there’s simply too much material.
Miracle on 34th Street was produced as a Lux Radio broadcast following the film’s 1947 release and starred the original cast, which included Maureen O’Hara, John Payne, Natalie Wood and Edmund Gwenn. The Actor’s Co-op joyfully re-creates the spirit of that event and makes a strong case for Christmas by exploring the season’s most important elements: faith and love.
The Actors Co-op, 1760 N. Gower St., Hollywood; Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 2:30 p.m. & 8 p.m.; Sun., 2:30 p.m.; through Dec. 15. (323) 462-8460 or actorsco-op.org. Running time: two hours with one 10-minute intermission.
