\ud83c\udfad NEW! Arizona Theatre Newsletter<\/p>\n
Guest contributor David Appleford gives a grateful glowing green light to Childsplay\u2019s production of RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfad NEW! Arizona Theatre Newsletter<\/p>\n There\u2019s a certain audacity in taking a beloved stop-motion curio from 1964 and re-dressing it for the stage, as though nostalgia itself were a renewable energy source. Childsplay\u2019s Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer still shimmers with the glow of memory as it polishes it anew, like a cherished ornament you still hang every December.<\/p>\n The affection behind the production is unmistakable: the show is theatrical nostalgia that can be enjoyed by all three generations of the family at once, and for different reasons. Directed with gentle verve by Dwayne Hartford, the heart of the original TV show remains intact, and so does the sincerity.\u00a0 It\u2019s bright, professional, and surprisingly affecting. And even more important, the cast appear to be having a great time performing it.<\/p>\n Adapted by Robert Penola from Romeo Muller\u2019s teleplay (itself inspired by Robert L. May\u2019s 1939 story and Johnny Marks\u2019 immortal song), the show keeps close to its familiar tunes (with the surprise addition of Brenda Lee\u2019s Rockin\u2019 Around The Christmas Tree) and the original text, including the show\u2019s best line: \u201cHis beak blinks like a blinkin\u2019 beacon!\u201d<\/p>\n We\u2019re again in the snowy expanse of the North Pole, with Sam the Snowman, played with genial warmth by Jon Gentry guiding us through Rudolph\u2019s journey from outsider to unlikely hero as he invites us to \u201cPull up an ice block and lend an ear.\u201d<\/p>\n You remember every beat: the glowing nose, the dental-minded elf, the Island of Misfit Toys, and the redemptive blizzard that turns rejection into salvation. The script never strays far enough to startle you, but that\u2019s its appeal. The pleasure comes less from discovery than from recognition, and the emotional payoff still works.<\/p>\n Hartford\u2019s direction keeps the sentiment buoyant, never syrupy. He directs with an unpretentious assurance, resisting the temptation to wink, as if knowing he\u2019s handling sacred holiday material. The humor bubbles up easily, even when the Abominable Snowman looms into view.<\/p>\n His cast, many of them Childsplay veterans, inhabit a dizzying carousel of roles and dive in with cheerful professionalism. Wesley Bradstreet gives Rudolph a bright-eyed innocence that never tips into parody. Ryan Ardelt\u2019s Hermey has an anxious, comic charm, and Katie McFadzen\u2019s Yukon Cornelius is a comic gust. She\u2019s half vaudeville, half cartoon gold prospector who all but steals her scenes through sheer comic timing. Beau Heckman\u2019s Santa radiates benevolent authority, and Alyssa Figueredo\u2019s Clarice, all warmth and grace with a wonderful voice, gives Rudolph\u2019s shy heart a believable pulse. Around them whirl Carlos Sanchez Beltran, Gavin Kennedy, Luz Navarro, and Debra K. Stevens, each juggling roles with the speed and precision of a backstage sleight of hand.<\/p>\n Visually, William Kirkham\u2019s lighting makes the production gleam like a freshly wrapped present, a candy-coated marvel that sparkles with invention. Aaron Jackson\u2019s scenic design moves with cinematic fluidity, suggesting a snow globe in motion, like a kind of kinetic toybox where panels shift while scenes roll by. Jake Pinholster\u2019s projections turn the North Pole into a constantly shifting storybook giving the action a cinematic scope the original puppets could never dream of. Connie Furr\u2019s costumes look ready for their own merchandising line, and under Kat Bailes\u2019 light-footed choreography, Bonnie Beus Romney\u2019s musical direction, and Connor Adams\u2019 crisp sound, the songs land with just the right mix of cheer and professionalism, faithful to the TV sound but bigger, brassier, less homespun.<\/p>\n If there\u2019s a weakness, it\u2019s the very thing that makes Rudolph endure: its unshakable sincerity. The message about difference being strength still resonates, but it\u2019s delivered so gently that the edges have been rounded off. Plus, the production never risks sentimentality because it\u2019s already there, safely embedded in the material. What keeps it from floating away in sugar is the cast\u2019s refusal to condescend to the story, which, given its source and its intended audience, many of whom may be experiencing theater for the first time, is truly the only honest way to do it.<\/p>\n The thing to remember is what this live version of Rudolph is not. It\u2019s not just family entertainment. For older members of the audience, it\u2019s a quiet homecoming. After seeing the show with your family, you may find yourselves quietly humming along, not so much out of memory, but from the recognition of how deeply those melodies once lived in you. What this Childsplay production does is tap into something instinctive. Without trying, it\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 summons the spirit of a Christmas past, when you, as a child, may have sat on the living room carpet, watching a stop-motion reindeer blink his way into hearts for the very first time.<\/p>\n In the end, what makes Rudolph endure, even in our irony-soaked age, is that its moral never feels manufactured, and children will thrill to the spectacle. Childsplay\u2019s adaptation, now playing for its fifth consecutive year at The Herberger Theater Center until December 22, may not surprise you in the way it will younger members of the audience, but it doesn\u2019t need to. It\u2019s a show that knows exactly what it is: childhood wonder and a lesson in tolerance that still glows, just like Rudolph\u2019s little red nose in the dark.<\/p>\n For all its cheer, this hugely entertaining production ultimately reminds us why that misfit reindeer, still blinking earnestly, continues to shine bright: it\u2019s a small light that with Childsplay\u2019s annual assistance may never go out.\u00a0<\/p>\n Childsplay —\u00a0https:\/\/www.childsplayaz.org\/<\/a>\u00a0—\u00a0480-921-5700<\/p>\n Venue: The Herberger Theater Center, Center Stage —\u00a0https:\/\/herbergertheater.org\/<\/a>\u00a0—\u00a0 \u00a0 222 E Monroe St, Phoenix, AZ —\u00a0602-254-7399<\/p>\n Photo Credit: Childsplay<\/p>\n Reader Reviews<\/p>\n To post a comment, you must register<\/a> and login<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\ud83c\udfad NEW! Arizona Theatre Newsletter Get all the top news & discounts for Arizona & beyond. 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