(Posted November 28, 2004)

FRANKLIN, Tenn. – Yes, Virginia, even the Grinch would watch That '60s Christmas Show and like it.

He'd notice there were a few rough patches, but his heart would still grow three sizes in one day with all the merriment Boiler Room Theatre's capable cast of singers, dancers and musicians provides.

BRT Artistic Director Jamey Green and Managing Director Lewis Kempfer have added original lyrics, music and book to some holiday standards. They've produced a mostly entertaining show that should be a holiday crowdpleaser for years to come.

The setting is the imaginary Metropolitan Broadcasting Company's Studio G in New York City on December 18, 1963. A live broadcast of the Jack Clurman Christmas Kaleidoscope promises to be a memorable one, with Elvis Presley, Zero Mostel, The Singing Nun, Gypsy Rose Lee and Brenda Lee scheduled to perform. A snowstorm has wrecked havoc on the guest list, though, so Clurman (Alan Lee) has to rely on his regular performers to give the folks at home the feeling they're seeing what they're actually missing.

The show is peppered with well arranged and pleasantly sung renditions of holiday classics like It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas, Jingle Bells, Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree, O Holy Night, Rudolph, The Red Nosed Reindeer and Mele Kalikimaka. It also has some very funny moments, like the ad the show's female performers (Lauri Bright, Megan Murphy and Melodie Madden Adams) do for a well-known line of vacuum cleaners where we're told that "Nothing sucks like a Hoover."

There are some moments that don't work as well, though. The device of reviewing futuristic Parisian fashions leads to a segment called Fashion Flash Forward that allows cast members to dress in psychadelically inspired garb and sing some late '60s tunes like Aquarius from the 1967 musical Hair. Even if the device is accepted, the segment still has nothing to do with a Christmas-themed show.

There's also a comic sketch called It's a Wonderful Christmas Carol which is a good idea only fairly executed. Mixing the Frank Capra movie It's A Wonderful Life with Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol is funny, but the sketch meanders and could be tightened to make it even funnier. The sketch is also hamstrung by Patrick Kramer's George Bailey impersonation, which comes across more like Woody Allen than Jimmy Stewart. One of the sketch's clever touches, though, is a paean to miserly behavior that is a wry take-off on the The Simple Joys of Maidenhood number from Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's Camelot.

Lee performs ably, though he doesn't seem as comfortable hosting a '60s TV show as he did giving customers a very close shave in the title role of BRT's recent Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street production. The dance team of Lauri Bright and Joe Truman remind us of The Lawrence Welk Show's Barbara Boylan and Bobby Burgess, while L.T. Kirk's nervous key grip Wells Benson nearly steals the show with a beautiful performance of Jesu Bambino.

The best all-around performance goes to musical comedy marvel Murphy, who plays Annette Bodicelli, "the comedian and Bubbly Girl," according to the show's program. She can trill or belt songs with the best of them, and her actions and reactions never betray her character. Murphy has previously displayed her acting and singing talents in BRT productions of Guys and Dolls, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown and other shows, and with this show she builds on her impressive body of work.

Green plays piano and conducts guitarists Doug Bright and Matty Adams, percussionist and drummer Rick Malkin and saxophonist Tom McGinley. The musicians provide terrific onstage accompaniment to the songs as well as enjoyably jazzy incidental music between scenes.

Kempfer's production design gives us silvery Christmas trees and light green backdrops to recreate the kind of look '60s TV shows had, and his direction keeps the show's pacing crisp. Cat Eberwine's period-faithful costumes complete the picture.

Yes, That '60s Christmas Show isn't perfect, but it doesn't have to be. It provides some fun along with wonderful holiday songs that even the Grinchiest among us like to hear this time of year.