The fourth annual Columbia Arts Team Holiday Spectacular took place at the Copake Town Park Building on Sunday, December 28. The spectacular production was the product of a three-day youth theater workshop for kids 7 to 12. Under the direction of the brilliant CAT troupe, composed of actor-comedian Liv Cummins, singer/songwriter Sandy McKnight, and singer/musician Christina Dellea, the kids learned stagecraft and developed their own play, “The Christmas Present.”
Meagan Conway, Lexi Basinait, Mia and Michael DiPeri, Stephanie Brodsky, Jasmin and Jennifer Mentzer, and Syona Morrison acted up a storm to the delight of a packed house of family and friends. I was lucky to sit next to the proud parents of Mia and Michael DiPeri.
Michael played the role of the mailman who takes the disastrous phone call from Santa saying that he would not be coming to Copake on Christmas night. “Are you serious Santa? Claus? OK—what do you want me to do? . . . You have a credit card? You’ve been to the Copake Pharmacy . . . and you have a special account there? OK—I’ll do my best!”
The media-savvy kids wrote roles for two TV reporters, played by Jasmin Mentzer and Stephanie Brodsky, who broke the news that global warming had caused all of the snow in the North Pole to melt, stranding Santa.
The rest of the ensemble played the all-girl Candy Cane family who dreamed of ponies for their Christmas presents. Several good lines in the lead-up to the big musical number were “Normally Santa doesn’t give real-live animals”; “They don’t fit down the chimney”; and, my favorite, “They’re too hard to wrap.”
It was a delightful play, and all of the kids took a well-deserved bow. They even got front-row seats for the rest of the spectacular show. Roger the Jester was next on the bill and delighted the crowd with his silly antics and a group sing of “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”
The Popinternatives, featuring Liv, Sandy, Christina, and Zach Nayer on guitar, led the audience in “Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” Then it was time for the grownups to get into the act. Andrew Joffe wrote the story of what might have happened if Santa broke his leg on Christmas Eve. He wrote it, so Andrew got to play Santa. Prudence Theriault played his understanding Mrs. Claus, who was worried that he could not perform his around-the-world gift-giving tour with a bad leg. Her goofy brother Earl, played suspender-snapping well by local real estate mogul John Wallace, was volunteered into the Santa sleigh role by his sister, Mrs. Claus. Santa Claus was not having that!
Two elves, played by Zach Nayer and Jackson Murphy, hired comic juggler Dave Cox to cheer Santa up. I never thought that a guy riding around on a unicycle could make me and the crowd laugh so hard and so loud. He was hilarious!
Kid comic Jackson Murphy is a talent to watch. Look out, late-night talk show comedians! Jackson’s imitation of Regis Philben was a real knee-slapper. I was laughing so hard that, to tell you the truth, I can’t remember the last act and who got to drive Santa’s sleigh on Christmas Eve. I do know that all the little kids got presents from Santa, Mrs. Claus, and her brother Earl. They were very happy and even happier to eat all of the treats served up by the volunteer moms and dads. I was a great holiday Sunday in Copake!
The Holiday Youth Theater Workshop was sponsored by the Town of Copake and Ed Herrington, Inc. The Stagecraft Workshop was sponsored by the Hudson River Bank & Trust Foundation and the Wal-Mart Foundation, with special thanks to Beth McKnight, an independent beauty consultant from Mary Kay.
If you and your kids want more information about the CAT troupe go to www.columbiaartsteam.org or call 800-816-4802.
