Chicago Theatre Review

Chicago Theatre Review

Letters from Home

December 4, 2018 Reviews Comments Off on Letters from Home

The Holiday Radio Show of 1943 – Three Cat Productions

Holiday shows have a more difficult job than you might think. They have to appeal to everyone at once and find a way to present songs and stories most people know even if they don’t know they know them. The Holiday Radio Show of 1943, performed in the cozy confines of the Berger Park Coach House, finds a charming way to do that. Presented as a Christmas-themed radio show in 1943 put on by five women in New York City and meant to be a love letter to anyone listening, the familiar carols mix with a few standards of the era and stories of family and friends absent due to the war. The afternoon I attended this show saw that uniquely Chicago weather anomaly, the freezing thunderstorm. Shaking off frigid water as I walked into the theater, the actors, in character, were passing around hot cider and cookies as they led us to our seats. The feeling of coming in out of the cold is probably the best way I can think of to describe the tone of the show. Its feels familiar and warm rather than just a retread of the same songs and stories.

The cast, made up of five amazing singers and their accompanist, can sing. They start the show with It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing) and their ability to harmonize is immediately a delight. The evening proceeds back forth between classic carols, like Holly and the Ivy and Silent Night and standards like Someone to Watch Over Me and As Time Goes By. The harmony arrangements of the carols are beautiful and beautifully performed. And let me tell you, any time a woman in a 40s up-do plaintively sings Someone to Watch Over Me, I am a happy camper.
 
Spread among the songs are vignettes with the women reading letters to someone they love who is overseas in the war. Some are sweet, some are sad. The framing device of people at home missing their loved ones infuses a little depth to the show, and keeps it from getting too sappy or monotone. Additional stories, largely adapted from 19th- and 20th-century American authors to the Christmas setting, are less effective for me. They don’t quite pack the punch of the carols or the letters, and at a run time of almost two hours, they probably could have largely been cut and tightened up the show.
 
The cast, to a person, is talented and charming and giving it their all. From the moment they offered me cider, I was a little in love. While I found the adapted stories a bit of a misstep, each of them nailed the reading of their letter, and I was surprised by how effective I found the device. The theater is in the coach house at Berger Park, in Edgewater. Originally a private mansion and separate coach house, it now belongs to the Park District and several companies have put on shows there. The small space is filled with period decor to help set the mood. There’s a table full of gadgets to make the noises for a radio production and it’s fun to see the cast operating the various noisemakers to enhance the stories as they are told. There’s even a flag with 48 stars (full credit to the friend who went with me for catching that).
 
The chief complaint of most Scrooges (myself included) this time of year is that Christmas music starts too early and by the time Christmas actually rolls around, if you hear another word about that little boy or his freaking drum, you’ll scream. So do yourself a favor, and get this version of them stuck in your head. Seeing this show was like slipping under a favorite blanket, warm and familiar — exactly what a holiday show is supposed to be. On the strength of a talented cast, this was a charming start to my holiday season.
 
Recommended
 
Review by Kevin Curran

Presented November 29-December 29 by Three Cat Productions at the Berger Park Coach House at 6205 N. Sheridan., Chicago.

Tickets are available in person at the box office, by calling (312) 970-9840 or by visiting www.threecatproductions.com.

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found at www.theatreinchicago.com.

0 comments

Comments are closed.