Remember that Christmas tale about a small, young reindeer who saved Santa’s sleigh from the dark night with his bright, red nose? Well, Rudolph has left the movie screens has flown into the Windy City just in time to light up his nose on the Broadway stages.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer kicked off on November 22 at the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place, only a short 1 hour and 45 minutes away from LZ.
The show calls viewers to “join Rudolph and his friends Clarice, Hermey the Elf and Yukon Cornelius as their adventures, from fleeing the Abominable Snow Monster to saving Christmas, teach us that what makes you different can be what makes you special,” according to the show’s website.
One thing that this production does differently than others is how they take humans, rather than machine work, to help create something they call “stage magic.” In other words, there are crewmembers who are on the stage during the performance to assist in the illusion of the musical.
“Both literally and figuratively, they make this show move, eloquently demonstrating that live theater weaves magic by showing us exactly how illusion is created rather than trying to hide the ball through cinematic realism,” Mike Fischer wrote in his review on the Journal Sentinel’s website.
This use of crewmembers, or “snowkens,” is what makes this particular production stand out from the rest, as well as the acting jobs and other special effects throughout the show.
Christina Wright, writer for Third Coast Daily, explained how this stage magic adds to the delight of the show. For example, a seal with a present on his nose popped up, and snowkens lifted the reindeer off the ground to create the illusion of flying.
Although the snowkens play a large role in the production, the show could not go on without the actors and actresses.
“Young actor Cole Hines was excellent as Rudolph (double-cast with Darius Gaskin),” Wright said. “He and the other reindeer wore full-body reindeer costumes complete with doe-eyed head pieces and hooves. Hines is an eighth grader at Golda Meir Middle School, and had a slight awkwardness and adolescent voice that was perfect for the role of Rudolph.”
All in all, the show is said to be very promising. It connects those who grew up with the TV special Rudolph with the present generation of children who are just looking for a jolly laugh.
“The entire cast was excellent and it was wonderful to see young actors working in tandem with veteran thespians,” Wright said. “The show’s final scene featured the entire cast singing ‘Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,’ and the audience couldn’t help but sing along. This is a must-see family play that will certainly jolt you into the holiday spirit.”
It’s show time!
This production is performed at Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place. To buy tickets, visit the official website for a link for costs and specials. Below is the following show dates and times over LZHS’ winter break.
December 21st: 11am, 4pm, 7pm
December 22nd: 1pm, 4pm
December 23rd: 11am, 4pm
December 24th: 11am, 4pm
December 26th: 11am, 4pm
December 27th: 4pm, 7pm
December 28th: 11am, 4pm, 7pm
December 29th: 1pm, 4pm
December 30th: 11am, 4pm
December 31st: 11am
January 2nd: 11am, 4pm
January 3rd: 4pm
January 4th: 11am, 4pm
January 5th: 4pm
