DORSET — The adults and kids lucky enough to be part of the Dorset Players’ annual Christmas show are all business and very professional in staging a production every year that is more than just about acting, dancing, singing and the like. While the convivial confines of the Playhouse have been welcoming all comers for almost a century, there is always something a bit different with the Christmas show.
This year, I literally could not make it past the box office without having a half dozen Players staff engulfing me in one bear hug after another, and that was just at the start of my evening. The love fest continued at different times in the lobby, in the aisles, in my long time regular seats, and even afterwards in the parking lot.
Of course, I had come to review a show: the fun and beloved 60-minute holiday youth extravaganza, “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Jr.,” with music and lyrics by Johnny Marks, script by Robert Penola, arrangements by Timothy Splain and orchestrations by William C White.
The folks closer to home responsible for the Herculean labor of shepherding dozens of children into a cohesive performance unit are director Michelle Cox, musical director Rob Ellis, and choreographer none other than the inimitable Renee Wymer, who must have some secret, magical sauce in her cupboard to get three dozen school children moving in sync with the grace and precision that we all witnessed on opening night. The outstanding army of backstage crew were under the aegis of producer Megan Demarest and assistant Ashley E.
But the Players’ Christmas show is about more than just theater. Almost always focused on a morality play of some kind, this year’s cast of 37 children took on the adapted tale of someone who didn’t belong, until they did – and the journey to get to that badly needed inclusion.
As is my annual practice in this particular review, there is no standout performance – they all shine, from major to minor roles. And so kudos must go to all of the youth performers:
Roger Blackburn, Olivia Kerhein, Isaac Peterson, Ava Mastaglio, Bryce Pergament, Olivia Gaiotti, Luka Rodich, Cate Hjelt, Eloise Devlin-Scherer, Chloe Devlin-Scherer, Brooklyn Pergament, Khloe Love, Munay Hanekamp, Olivia Jorgensen, Josie Krug, Lucian Parris, Will Secoy, Cora Ericson-Monk, Oscar Dahm, Zoey Santelli, Alouette Lee, Averi Matteson, Alexandra Williford, Anika Mastaglio, Rosie Borman, Lucia Kathrine Dahm, Charlotte West, Sofia LaPlant Lima, Amelia Albright, Luke Jorgensen, Eleanor Strecker, Phoebe Bingham, Cecilia Hornby, Abigail Fitzpatrick, Penny Wilcox, Caroline Kinney, Alice Redouin.
That’s more than twice the kids normally seen in a Player’s Christmas production, and for my money, I am delighted, and it fills my heart with great joy, to name every last one of them.
For all their excellence throughout each performing season, and for all their professionalism as they inch closer to a banner 100th campaign – a performing arts feat almost unheard in this country – I’ve always felt as if the Players’ Christmas show cuts to the heart of who they are, but more importantly, why they are this way.
Community and family are at the core of every Dorset Players endeavor, and nowhere can that promise be more fulfilled than in the future of our children, who remind the more jaded among us that even in this fast-paced age of digital instant gratification, there is always the promise to do to good, to do the right thing, to be better, and always, to look out for each other.
When the audience sprung to perhaps the fastest standing ovation I have seen in two decades of covering the arts, it was more than just a reward for the outstanding performance on stage. This outcome was also guided and nurtured along the way by the well-known adults supporting the Players with their expected production excellence.
More so, however, it was also an acknowledgement of something we have all once yearned for: the promise of looking ahead from childhood into the limitless boundaries and potential of our future. “Rudolph Jr.” is a show that is able to bring all of that goodness together for us, and enough of a reason for you and your entire family to go see it.
But when you do, consider that for the past century, this little community theater company has been steadfast in its ability to harness the unseen, every Christmas.
So, when you walk out into the chilly night this Christmas Eve, listen for the reindeer bells. And when you hear them, know that year after year, The Dorset Players continue to bring out all that is good in humanity, and all that can continue to be good, in a world that seemingly needs to be reminded of it, now more than ever.
“Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, Jr.” will be playing through Dec. 14, with both matinee and evening shows, at the Dorset Players, 104 Cheney Rd. in Dorset. For more information and tickets: call the box office at 802-867-5777 or visit dorsetplayers.org
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