Pacific Theatre and MTC Present CHRISTMAS ON THE AIR, 12/10-1/1

With Lucia Frangione's CHRISTMAS ON THE AIR as its holiday offering, there won't be a Grinch or Scrooge out at Pacific Theatre this Christmas! Frangione's merry little Christmas show overflows with the warmest sentiments of the holiday season. Created in 1994 when Frangione was a budding actress and playwright, CHRISTMAS ON THE AIR is a family-friendly, nostalgic romp set in a fictitious Vancouver radio studio on Christmas Eve of 1949 during a live radio broadcast. The audience is part of the broadcast and not only do they participate in the "live radio show" they also witness the backstage antics as PERCIVAL FRANK (Damon Calderwood) tries to keep his annual Christmas show on track and on time in spite of a huge snowstorm and in spite of a potentially awkward revelation on the part of KITTY MCNALLY (Diana Kaarina), the newest member of his radio family. It seems Kitty forgot to tell her boss or his Dutch wife YOLANDA (Lalainia Lindbjerg) and their enthusiastic son DANNY (Benjamin Elliott) that she has a child. By a man who abandoned her upon learning she was pregnant. And if that wasn't bad enough, Danny is in love with Kitty and this is the first he's heard about the baby! SYLVIA WHITE (Seana-Lee Wood), the radio show's pianist, tries to hold everything together as music soars on show-laden winter winds and Christmas Eve ticks ever onward.

This simple story is the Christmas tree that Frangione decorates with some great old Christmas songs and stories. The stories are hilarious. Stories such as "A Bum's Christmas" and "The Kid Hangs Up His Stocking" or a riotous rendition that pulls out all the comic stops of Clement C. Moore's classic holiday poem, "A Visit from St. Nicholas". And what would Christmas be without the crystalline sentimentality of stories like "The Gift of the Magi" or "The Little Fir Tree"? It's all wrapped with great holiday harmonies performed by a cast of some of this country's finest musical theatre artists. Mayhem, music and the honest simplicity of a story told well. As warm as a cup of hot cocoa after a day in the snow, or as fresh as a newly cut tree decorating the front parlour. Crackling like a Christmas Yule log and laced with the sweet slap of Grandma's famous rum balls. It is an evening of pure Christmas magic.

CHRISTMAS ON THE AIR is a Midnight Theatre Collective production presented by Pacific Theatre in their 2010/11 season and directed by Shel Piercy, will open Friday, December 10th, with a "pay-what-you-can" Preview on Thursday, Dec 9th and will run Wed - Sat until January 1, 2011, 8pm curtain, Saturday matinees at 2pm; Friday, Dec 17: Artist Talkback Session. Ticket information can be found by calling the Pacific Theatre Box Office at 604-731-5518 or visiting the website at http://pacifictheatre.org/contact.

Photo Credit: Philip Grosvenor

 

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