Flat Rock – The heartwarming, multi-generational A Flat Rock Christmas reverberates with song, dance, and holiday cheer.
The two-hour show has eight leads with varying voices, a 35-person chorus of mostly local senior citizens, and 20 Pat’s School of Dance teen dancers spanning across the large stage.
The production concludes on Dec. 14-17 and 19-21. Tickets are selling fast.
Christmas Pop Hits
Leading off is a rendition of legendary Paul McCartney’s top ten hit “Wonderful Christmastime” (1984). Act two starts with Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” (1994), sung by Gabriella Gomez. That was the first Christmas song to attain Billboard Hot 100 number one hit status since 1958.
Gomez is sensational. She leads a medley with Jose Feliciano’s “Feliz Navidad” (1970).
Patrick Dinnsen plays guitar and sings on “Please Come Home for Christmas” (1960), which The Eagles made a hit in 1978. Indiana native Dinnsen also excels on Chuck Berry’s R&B tune “Run, Rudolph, Run” (1958). “Boogie Boogie Santa Clause” (1947), sung well by Maddie Franke, is from a decade further back.
Creative Interpretations
“Up on the Housetop” about Santa Claus is a song written in 1864. It was a recording hit for Gene Autry in 1953. FRP presents a modern hip-hop version of it with Pat’s dancers.
The eight vibrant lead singers are Gomez, Dinnsen, Brandon Keith Rogers, USO Show Troupe touring member Amanda Tong, Maddie Franke, Kathleen Watson, Texan J. Taylor Wright, and Galloway Stevens. Rogers recently played male lead Tony in West Side Story at FRP. Wright sings bouncy, silly “The Happy Elf.” Watson sings David Friedman’s self-absorbed comical lyrics of “My Simple Christmas Wish.”
Stevens’ low voice is ideal for an Italian opera voice on a number. The opposite extreme is Chipmunks-like falsetto voices of Tong, Franke, and Wright, after breathing a helium-oxygen mix from balloons. They are hilarious singing the Chipmunks’ chart-topping “Christmas Don’t Be Late” (1958).
The eight leads share lead vocals on such tunes as “Sparklejollytwinklejingley” (2011), “8 Days of Hanukkah” (1984), and closer “Joy to the World.”
House Band Excels
FRP Music Director Ethan Andersen on piano, house band drummer Paul Babelay, and frequent special performer Ryan Guerra play live together on the back of the stage. They performed “The Nuttycracker Suite.” Guerra sizzles on violin (“Away in a Manger”) and in electric guitar solos. Babelay creatively plays “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” on a vibraphone.
Lisa K. Bryant oversees a “directing team” that includes Andersen, and Lauren Hopkins who choreographed the leads’ dancing and syncing with Pat’s dancers. Pat’s crew developed the teen dancers’ moves. Their spectacular dancing and outfits provide a special treat.
Ashli Crump designed eye-catching outfits are for leads, and some for Pat’s dancers such as green elf costumes. Jeb Purcell’s projections are sharp backdrops. In an on-screen video, usual Christmas show host Scott Treadway reads a clever poem about frustrations of holiday air travel.
Promising New Season
The 2024 FRP season is newly released. It features hit musicals Cats, Cabaret, and Jersey Boys. The Mountaintop is about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in an up-close black box show. There is the prison drama The Shawshank Redemption, and romantic comedy Boeing-Boeing.
Music abounds, as usual. Fan favorite pianist Nat Zegree is in concert. There is a concert of songs from the smash musical Jesus Christ Superstar. FRP’s Music on the Rock tributes in 2024 are to The Beach Boys, John Denver, Motown, ‘60s-80s hits, and with recording star Blake Ellege performing country hits.
The season’s very first show, running on Feb. 22-25, is a concert of rock-pop hits of the Sixties, Seventies and Eighties. Dustin Brayley, Ryan Dunn, Eric Anthony, Guerra, and Babelay are the musicians. They have performed tributes to The Beatles and The Eagles for FRP.
Tickets go on sale starting on Jan. 10 for FRP season tickets and Jan. 24 for specific shows.
Check flatrockplayhouse.org or call the box office at (828) 693-0731, for tickets to A Flat Rock Playhouse Christmas or for information and tickets on shows in 2024.