Home for the Holidays: Sounds of the Season

Written By: Luke Osteen | Issue: Whats News | Photograph By: Emily Mercedes Rich

This strange, unsettled year has left me rattled, and I’ve tumbled into this busy holiday season with 1,000 concerns and 700 obligations.

I’d once more found myself closer in spirit to The Grinch than those sweet-natured, blissful Whos down in Whoville.

Fortunately, the good people of Mountain Theatre Company had a tonic to make my small heart grow three sizes – Home for the Holidays: Sounds of the Season.

In fact, it’s a pretty simple solution – Buddy the Elf articulated it 20 years ago: “The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.”

And dance, too, Buddy!

Under the direction of MTC Executive Director Scott Daniel (who’s helmed three editions of this massive mood-elevator), Vocal Director Lori Nielsen, and Choreographer Erin Leigh Knowles, this is a show that’ll seduce you as assuredly as a mug of flaming wassail and a conveniently placed sprig of mistletoe.

Its octet of supremely-talented Vocalists/Dancers/Entertainers – Spencer Bethers, Kyla Bolling, Brittany McDonald, Terrance McQueen, Robert Rice, Will Shafer, Ellen Sisley, and Jillian Worthing – are at the summit of their hard-earned talents and I challenge anyone to resist their efforts and imprecations.

Embedded within the playlist, like chocolate chips in a cookie, are old and new tunes that brought a level of silliness and hijinks – a sentiment all too frequently neglected by holiday revues.

In last year’s review, I noted that Sam Alan Johnson was clearly channeling the late Thurl Ravenscroft’s immortal How the Grinch Stole Christmas version. In this Home, Mr. Shafer goes in another direction – his version recalls Jude Law at his greasiest (and I swear his face somehow takes on the countenance of a young Jack Nicholson at his most menacing) – and he’s perfectly complemented by Mr. Rice’s slithery prowl through the darkened homes of Whoville).

With Santa Baby, Ms. Worthing somehow out-seduces and shimmies past the iconic Marilyn Monroe – provocative in the extreme, she’s as tart as an apple on Christmas morning, and equally irresistible.

Last year, I called attention to the inclusion of Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer, giving the entire production a bubbly, slightly off-center spirit. As far as I can tell, this goofy paean to holiday mayhem was unceremoniously yanked from the American Songbook in the late 80s, expired with a stake of holly driven through its goofy heart, and buried in an overgrown field just behind Tin Pan Alley. Kudos to Director/Writer/Showman Daniel for not simply resurrecting this lost classic, but dusting it off and giving new, even sillier resonance when combined with Ms. Knowles’ Marx Brothers-inspired choreography.

And oh, Ms. Bolling’s sweet, borderline-sassy I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas! This is a performance for the ages – profound in its silliness and animated by a performer with the natural timing and presence of Fanny Brice at her most beguiling. I wanted to stride out of the PAC right then and buy that girl a hippopotamus!

Bu the merriment was reined-in when the show delivered its closing trio of songs – We Are Lights; Mary, Did You Know?; and This is My Wish. There is heartache, poignancy, and promise embedded in these performances, and it slices through the silliness to remind us of the true spirit of the season.

I can’t leave out the incredible contribution that Ms. Knowles has made to this production and the other musicals that have dotted MTC’s 2023-2024 seasons.

The performers truly deliver on the ballet, jazz, tap, hip-hop and soft-shoe that have been built into Home for the Holidays. The stage is constantly in motion, like a kaleidoscope wielded by an eggnog-fueled reveler.

In fact, all of that music, all of that motion, have been elevated three-fold (like the enlightened Grinch’s heart) by the full flowering of MTC’s behind-the-scenes technical crew – projections, interactive visuals, and digital soundscapes. These collaborative efforts between dancers, musical technicians, visual artists, and production designers are pushing the boundaries of creativity and experimentation.

This augers well for Mountain Theatre Company’s 2025 Season.

Home for the Holidays: Sounds of the Season will be presented at Highlands Performing Arts Center through December 22.