Christmas At the Local Makes a Welcome Return To Theater Latté Da For Another Season of Song, Hope, and Fellowship

Christmas at the Local returns to Theater Latté Da for the second year and while ideally we’d see an alternation between it and their other Christmas tradition All Is Calm, there’s no denying it’s charms. In a theater holiday season filled with “must see” productions, Christmas at the Local justifies return business as it makes its case for a new Holiday tradition alongside The Guthrie’s A Christmas Carol and Penumbra’s Black Nativity. Nostalgically reminding us of Christmases of the past while sending a message of peace for today and the future. Filled entirely of music, prose and poetry, there is no narrative among the characters on stage but that which we the audience project on them. All we are given, indeed all we need, are eight performers who gather at The Local, pull out their instruments and play and sing songs for one another and share a story and a poem. Gathering in a way that is familiar from our collective youths and yet so foreign to us now. It makes one long for the days when we uninhibitedly sang Christmas Carols around the tree and gathered with the aunties and uncles, cousins and family friends to celebrate en masse. More a gathering in a local bar listening to local musicians than a musical, more a feeling of sitting in a family room sharing stories than a poetry or spoken word recietal. It’s hard to describe the completeness one feels at this performance which is so simple, yet so perfect.

Christmas at the Local features songs from the likes of Paul Simon, Shane MacGowan and Joni Mitchell as well as traditional Welsh songs and holiday staples. The eight performers including among them Jason Hansen, who is also the Music Director and arranged and orchestrated all of the music, play all of the music on stage, several of the performers play multiple instruments. It’s like hitting the right bar on open mic night where everyone is fantastic and joins in with one another. The show also features a telling of A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas with music composed by Cerys Matthews and Mason Neely. It was a version of this composition by Matthews and Neely on MPR radio that sparked the idea for Christmas at the Local with Theater Latté Da’s former artistic Director Peter Rothstein. Originally slated to debut in 2020, the Pandemic caused the delay but also inspired the inclusion of the poem “The Longing for Amazing Peace” by Dr. Maya Angelou with music by Chastity Brown. The spoken word pieces are performed by the entire cast with the Proprietor of the Local played by Joy Dolo featured most prominently. With everything happening in the world this year “The Longing for Amazing Peace” feels more relevant than ever. There was a sense that they show lost a sliver of it’s joy, which I think is due to an added gravitas we the audience and they the performers bring to the message of the poem. Always an important message to be sure, but this year instead of a message of hope it feels more like a plea, which seems sadly appropriate.

This years production is essentially a complete remount of 2022’s with the same brilliant eight performers. Joy Dolo, is the Proprietor who is my favorite in a cast of favorites. She sings well but where she really shines is when it comes to the spoken word performances. Taking the lead as the main narrator of A Child’s Christmas in Wales, she is wonderfully expressive sucking you into the humor and beauty of Dylan Thomas’ perfectly chosen words. Playful but not childish, it’s perfectly calibrated, changing tones from sentence to sentence; at times a wistful remembrance, at other times a riotous tale of childhood mischief. At the start of the show it feels like Dolo is there as a support, to keep the glasses full and lend her voice to the chorus, by the end it’s clear she is the heart and soul of the production. The entire cast is fantastic, it’s an embarrassment of riches to be sure. Phinehas Bynum an alum of All Is Calm is on keys and has a nice supporting role in the Thomas piece as the narrator’s friend. Bradley Greenwald with his rich voice and baritone horn are a perfect compliment and provide some wonderful touches of humor. Matt Riehle here with guitar in hand rocks the appropriately sanitized version “Fairytale of New York” with Dolo. Rounding out the cast are Spencer Chandler on accordion, Elizabeth Reese on flute/saxophone, Quinn Shadko on violin, and of course as mentioned above Jason Hansen on a multitude of instruments including the mandolin. All sing beautifully, particularly angelic are Reese and Shadko whose voices complement each other nicely. I also want to highlight the Scenic Designer Benjamin Olsen, whose set for The Local is one of the best I’ve ever seen. He has perfectly created the neighborhood haunt of our collective imagination, the place where everyone knows your name, where stories told are for all to share in, and everyone joins in the singing of songs. The set is recognizably a present day location while simultaneously feeling like it could have existed 50 years ago exactly as it is. It adds to the timelessness of the entire production.

Christmas at the Local will transport you to an idyllic world. Where the Christmases past are remembered with advantages. A place where we all sing well and speak eloquently of peace and good will to all. I recommend sitting as close to the stage as possible, no the front row is not too close. The show runs through December 31st, for more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.latteda.org/christmas-at-the-local-2023

This Holiday season why not start a new tradition of taking in a live theater production with family and friends? It’s a great way to create lasting memories and will give you something to look forward to every year as you experience the magic of live theater. Whether your budget is large or small, there is a show for you. Looking for gift ideas? Don’t we all have enough “stuff”? Give the gift of live theater, go to your favorite theaters website, see what shows they have coming up in the new year and give the gift of an experience over material.

Don’t want to miss a single review from The Stages of MN? You can subscribe and have every post sent directly to your email. To subscribe on your computer: from the home page on the right, enter your email address and click subscribe. On your mobile device scroll to the bottom of the page and do the same. You can also follow me on Facebook, @thestagesofmn click follow and on Instagram thestagesofmn. You can also read some of my reviews syndicated on the MN Playlist website https://minnesotaplaylist.com/

I am also a member of the Twin Cities Theater Bloggers (TCTB), where you can read roundups of shows by my colleagues and I when you follow us on facebook @TwinCitiesTheaterBloggers. We also produce the podcast Twin Cities Theater Chat!! which you can access through this link or wherever you enjoy podcasts https://twincitiestheaterchat.buzzsprout.com/ . We post biweekly longer form episodes that will focus on interviews and discussions around theater topics. There is also shorter episodes in which we Bloggers tell you what we think you should get out and see as well as what we have on our schedules that we are most looking forward too.