The Cayman Drama Society is once again bringing the spirit of Christmas to the stage as they present the annual Playhouse Family Christmas, with this year’s show ‘A Christmas on Miracle Street’.
However, anyone who didn’t secure their tickets early will be disappointed as organisers confirmed the three-weekend production (24 Nov.-10 Dec.), has been sold out since the first day sales opened.
This Christmas marks nine years since the production’s debut. Described as a “preliminary Christmas” show, Sue Howe – creator, writer, director and actor – told the Compass it was an honour to set the tone for the community for the festive season, adding, “it makes me want to cry. I’m super proud of that. If anything, that’s why we do this. That’s why anyone in theatre does what they do.”
Howe said it started out simply as a play about a cat and a mouse, named Grizz and Frizz, who were together in a house. She chuckled as she recalled designing an actual mouse hole for the first couple of sets, noting “it certainly wasn’t at the calibre it is now”.
“It became very popular. I think it was the characters, and then the penguins, the toy soldiers, the angels, the beloved ‘Mr. Cane’, the wise guys, now wise men, so we just added characters to the show.”
The year, the playhouse stage has been transformed into a “back alley/entrances and lesser-seen sides of streets and buildings,” Howe said, adding “You’re seeing a post office, an Italian diner, a dress shop, and the penguin’s hobby emporium.”
She continued, “We’ve done snow town, the village, the train, toy shop, candy factory, but what I wanted to do this year is… Christmas can be anywhere. It can be in a back alley; it’s what and where you make it.”
Producer Stuart Broad said the 23-member cast and crew is “eclectic” and includes five new people. “it’s really nice to have some fresh blood, great voices, real characters that bring their own flair, which is really lovely,” he said.
Ten of the cast members have come through the ranks of CDS’ training classes, Broad added. “It’s a training ground for them. Especially in Cayman, theatre is a way to learn about the world and life, and sometimes in Cayman maybe where it’s a small place… theatre is an opportunity not to be a small place… it opens up opportunities and attitudes, and aspects of different things you haven’t thought about.”
Some of the crew were provided by advocacy organization Inclusion Cayman. “We’ve been able to help a few people get some experience of both working backstage, in our cast and also in front of house,” Broad said.
The two-act variety show, which includes a 15-minute intermission, features songs ‘Small Town Christmas,’ ‘Christmas Alphabet,’ ‘Must Be Santa,’ ‘Santa Claus is Coming to Town’ and ‘Christmas Memories’.
“We always try to put a brand-new script, new story, new feature characters, new songs in the mix,” Howe said. “There are three rewrites of songs, and I try to put in new songs every year. This year there are a lot of songs that people haven’t heard before.”
Asked about her favourite part of the show, Howe had to pause before answering that it would be “sharing the spirit of Christmas, making people happy and feel ‘Christmas-ey’, and the power that we have to do that”.
Agata Kalicki, who plays a penguin and helps create, build, paint and dress the set, said she most enjoys performing: “It’s the audience response to performing. It’s different every night. A bit of applause, and laughter from a joke… that’s why I do this, I’m sold, I’m in this forever.”
Noting the show was a huge production requiring a lot of work, Broad said, “I’m always amazed at how it all comes together.”
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