Review: SANTA STORY 2 at Downtown Cabaret Theatre

On Saturday, November 30th, I had the pleasure of seeing yet another wonderful performance at the Downtown Cabaret Theatre in Bridgeport, CT.  The theatre for young audiences, that features adult performers, always manages to provide entertainment for the entire family so that parents can be entertained, themselves, as they experience the joy of watching their smiling children being entertained.  SANTA STORY 2 is yet another brilliantly written and performed story that is guaranteed to add to the Christmas cheer of all who see it!  Carly Jurman excels as the writer, director, and choreographer, showing her myriad of first-rate talents, including her acting performance as Mrs. Kringle.  She is joined by other highly talented cast members including Ashley DePascale, Andrea Pane, Emily Pisarra, JoJo Devellis, and Karen Hanley.  This stellar cast gels together excellently, with tight stage chemistry, all of them playing extras beyond their main characters, bringing positive energy to every role they play. 

Fear not that this is SANTA STORY 2, and you may not have seen Downtown Cabaret Theatre’s original The Santa Story in 2021. There are no inside references to it in SANTA STORY 2.  Rather, SANTA STORY 2 stands on its own.

Om stage, much of the set is projected on a screen which constitutes the backstage wall.  This works excellently, including showing scenery from New York City that really made it look as if the characters were right there.  The excellent multimedia design shows hard work and creativity by Sasha Mishaman, aligned with Carly Jurman’s writing. 

The music is primarily Christmas songs, with a few exceptions thrown in, with music from Blondie and from Michael Jackson.  Under music director Aron Smith, the cast members perform every song with feeling and clarity, with excellent synchronized choreography.

As typical for Downtown Cabaret’s Young Audience shows, the fourth wall gets broken.  There are entrances through the audience.  Furthermore, from the stage, characters ask the audience questions at various times and respond based on their answers.  Even more significantly, individual children of the audience are singled out and interviewed regarding what they would like for Christmas.  This happens both randomly, and with specific names, entered ahead of time, that are called from on stage.  The children being questioned are then rated on the naughty or nice meter, the measurements being one or the other.  All of the rated children who were in the audience during this particular production got a rating of nice, but I can not guarantee that such will be the case for every production.  The sound made by the naughty or nice meter makes me think of Mario jumping onto the flagpoles at the end of the boards in Nintendo’s original Super Mario Brothers video game.

Ashley DePascale continues to bring her A game to every production she is in, really breaking a leg in her performance of the central antagonist Jimmy the Gingerbread Man!  Jimmy is one tough cookie who has a passionate detestation towards Chris Kringle, after Chris Kringle had eaten one of Jimmy’s legs the previous Christmas.  In fact, Jimmy even goes as far as approaching Eddie the Yeti with plans of putting a hit out on Chris Kringle.  Karen Hanley is excellent as Eddie the Yeti, complete with the New Yawk mobster accent.  Despite some expository dialogue suggesting that Eddie had previously offed Frosty the Snowman, Eddie did not have the same degree of vicious intent towards Chris Kringle that Jimmy harbored.  Eddie instead suggested that sabotaging Santa’s distribution of toys would be far more effective. 

The original planned sabotage would be the destruction of the gift-wrapping machine.  The elves who work for Chris Kringle include Joy and Jolly who are magnificently performed by Emily Pisarra and JoJo DeVellis respectively.  They ran the workshop smoothly, until a new co-worker who was Jimmy, posing as an elf, infiltrated the workshop, under the false pretense of having been legitimately hired.  Joy and Jolly are highly likeable characters.  Emily Pisarra’s singing voice is phenomenal and well showcased in this production.

Andrea Pane provides another excellent performance as Chris Kringle (Santa) in this production.  Carly Jurman wonderfully complements him as a now pregnant Mrs. Kringle.  They take some time off to vacation in Hawaii, with plans to be back in time to distribute Christmas presents.  Will there be any presents to give, though, after Jimmy’s attempt to create a sticky situation with the gift-wrapping machine?  Will Eddie the Yeti’s power to influence weather hinder the return of Santa from Hawaii?  Will a dancing experience in New York City temporarily distract Santa and Mrs. Kringle from their mission?  Will an Elmo impersonator make a cameo appearance?  Which Christmas songs will be included?  Can gingerbread men regenerate parts, like starfish?  Will there be a Sheila in the audience who is having a birthday?  Come to the show to find out!

The message is very positive, without any overt religious overtones.  Santa presents the idea that Christmas will be about forgiveness, as opposed to the naughty or nice list.  The truth is that we all fall short of moral perfection.  So, if God didn’t love us all so much that He wanted to forgive us, there would be no need for the incarnation of Jesus, thus there would be no Christmas.  The show also points that no matter how far gone someone may be, no matter how many evil things they may have done, forgiveness is still available to those with contrite hearts.  It can sometimes be easy to forget those important points.  While the show is light-hearted, and does not go into that level of analysis of its theological depth, those positive messages aligned with Christian theology will not be lost on Christians in the audience.  The fact that this show extols forgiveness of others and the realization that we can all be forgiven no matter what we have done, furthermore aligning both concepts with Christmas, makes SANTA STORY 2 a much needed positive influence on the youth who are blessed with the opportunity to see this show!    

I highly recommend SANTA STORY 2 for all audiences.  It is scheduled to continue to run through December 29, 2024.  For times and tickets, please go to Tickets.

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