Many of these holiday traditions carry with it an annual trip to the theater. Whether is be time honored productions like A Christmas Carol or The Nutcracker ballet, or seeing the latest production at your favorite theater like The Heidi Chronicles at MST, these trips help create special memories for us all.
While growing up in Massachusetts, my family and another clan took a trip from Williamstown to Boston to see a production of A Christmas Carol. There was some snafu in the box office, for when we arrived there was no matinee production of the show that day! A holiday disaster in the making, yes?
Thanks to the diligent efforts of the theater’s box office, disaster was averted! Though they had no production for us that afternoon, they did know that the Boston Ballet was presenting a school matinee that afternoon. A few quick phone calls, and we were redirected to the ballet’s theater and ushered in for what would be my first viewing of The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky.
Do you have any favorite theatrical holiday memories? Be it New Year’s, Christmas, or the Fourth of July, sit down by the fireside and tell us the tale!
And that’s the word on the street! Happy New Year!
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One of my insane theatre memories (and a favorite of our Stage Manager's, Mark Lewis) was Christmas 1994 at the A.D. Player's production of THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER. Not only was I an understudy for several of the women's parts, but I was also Costume Designer and Spotlight Operator.
One night one of our community hires called in and said the movers were there, so she wouldn't be making the show. That put us into a panic. Thankfully, it was late enough in the run that I could BS my way through her monologue, and the cast was comfortable enough with the production that we could adjust. However, the women & I were NOT the same size AT ALL. She was very petite, and due to the size of the cast, those were all the costumes we had. I found shoes at the Costume Shop that would fit me. Mark's favorite memory is that when I tried on one of the woman's long-sleeve dresses (which became three-quarter length on me), I triumphed exultantly, "IT FITS!" Next, we grabbed one of our ushers (I think), and pulled him into the Booth to run the spotlight while I was onstage. When I wasn't onstage, I was climbing the ladder to the Booth to continue my other duties. It was insane, but we made it through it.
Ah, the magic of live theatre!
Right now, I am in A CATERED AFFAIR at Main Street Theater. We preview starting January 1st, open January 6th and run through January 23rd. Come see the magic!
At my boarding school the annual trip to see "Nutcracker" was so popular that tickets were assigned by random draw from a hat. Senior year, I ended up with a ticket (good) but on a bus full of icky people - plus Tom, whom I did not know well, but did know to be a good guy.
Tom decided that this was to be the date of the decade. With permission from my boyfriend, Tom brought me flowers, took my coat, held the door, bought me a diet coke, etc. and it was the only A+ date of my life.
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