THE Grinch would have a field day with all the cheeseball Christmas tales that have been churned out for modern audiences. They’re all trying to slide into classic status, but to do so they have to find that sweet spot between the agony and the ecstasy of the holidays. Just look at the stuff that’s been accepted as the modern Christmas canon: It’s a Wonderful Life? Aw, suicidal impulses and financial meltdown, how sweet! A Christmas Story was once too sarcastic and irreverent for holiday audiences, pulled from theaters after three weeks. Then The Simpsons became a cultural phenomenon, and now Bob Clark’s former cult gem plays 24 hours a day on television this time of year.
Most people don’t trust sap, nor should they. But crass bitterness coated with a hard sentimental shell doesn’t work either, it just sinks to the bottom with junk like Deck the Halls, Surviving Christmas and Jingle All the Way.
If there’s one modern story that nailed that money spot between tidings of discomfort and joy, it’s the original Miracle on 34th Street. Is there any more powerful counterpoint to Scroogeism than when Maureen O’Hara says, “It’s not just Kris that’s on trial, it’s everything he stands for”?
Well, Kris is on trial once again, in a way, in City Lights Theater Company’s production of Another Night Before Christmas. He even calls himself Kris, though his character’s official name is “The Guy.” Yes, Virginia, he claims to be Santa Claus. And yes, there are plenty of references, in-jokes and other tributes from playwright Sean Grennan to let the audience know that he is using Miracle as his guide—even more so than the original Clement Clarke Moore poem, although that gets the nod, too.
This is the West Coast premiere of Grennan’s two-person musical, and thanks to entertaining performances from the leads, some madcap holiday funny business and just the right dose of feeling—not to mention a knockout ending—it manages to do that rarest of things: find exactly the right Christmas spirit.
This time, the would-be Santa is a homeless man that lonely Karol Elliot encounters outside her apartment. Later he shows up inside her apartment, leading to a massive freak-out on her part, as she assumes he’s a burglar. After a bit of a slow start, it becomes obvious that he’s way too jolly to be a burglar, and her line of thinking goes straight to crazy person. He insists that he’s Santa, and when the subject of her holiday hang-ups arises, he begins his funny and endearing campaign to make her care about the season again.
Those are two key words, funny and endearing. This setup could definitely be played wrong, in fact it’s sort of a minor miracle it comes off. But the key is Michael Johnson as the imperturbable, impossibly upbeat stranger. Johnson is like Edmund Gwenn on steroids. He is so purely good, so charming and so relentlessly chipper that he removes any weirdness from a scenario that is basically home invasion. And doesn’t the real Santa do the same thing? Which isn’t to say Johnson’s Guy isn’t the real Santa, just to point out that his wonderful performance makes you want to believe that he is.
Lisa-Marie Newton as the angsty Karol has a tough role. She can’t play it like Scrooge, because the audience has to be able to identify with her, and see the potential underneath the hard edges. She does a fantastic job, and when Kris begins to have an effect on her, she conveys the possibility of a transformation at just the right speed—subtly at first, and not too quick.
The songs, with music by Leah Okimoto, are mostly ornamental. This didn’t have to be a musical, exactly, but the numbers work best when Kris uses them as a way to get through to Karol. Johnson runs away with his opportunities to ham it up on “The Big Guy’s in the House,” “Santa Claus Is Goin’ to Town” and “Kill Der Bingle,” and Newton gets swept up in the ride.
It’s too early to predict whether Another Night Before Christmas will be a holiday classic, but families and all other true believers should seek it out immediately. It’s one Santa Claus story that really delivers.
ANOTHER NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS runs through Dec. 20 at City Lights Theater, 529 S. Second St., San Jose. Tickets are $28; 408.295.4200.
