I wanted to like Company One and Phoenix Theatre Artist’s production of Christmas Belles so much.  It seemed to me like a little gift from heaven, a Holiday show by the creators of one of my favorite and arguably one of the funniest television sitcoms of all time, The Golden Girls, and I was prepared to be dazzled by the jollity of comedic genius.  I’m afraid that I was left feeling immensely underwhelmed by this production.

The cast wasn’t bad, in fact, I enjoyed the performance of almost all of the jovial crew, but it was hard for them to make up for what was lacking in the script- that is, something that linked together the moments of obscene exposition and cheap one-liners that actually managed to warm the audience’s heart.  I am a firm believer that any holiday story, no matter how cheesy, needs to have the “heart warm” factor firmly in place in order to be successful in the genre.  This script just didn’t cut it for me, and though the second act did pick up a little with brief moments of good writing, the first act was so dismal I almost stopped paying attention.

I could go on about specific reasons why I didn’t like the script of Christmas Belles, but Company One and the Phoenix Theatre Artists did assemble some great talents, and I want to give them the credit they are due.  They were the only thing that saved this cardboard cutout of a Holiday show.  First and foremost let me say that I absolutely loved Terrence P. Haddad as Sheriff John Curtis Barker.  He perfectly balanced the need to be a ridiculous caricature with moments of real character development, and his lines were perfectly accented.  It was fantastic to get to see him with lines and vitality after his amusing but fairly silent stint in the Superheroine Monologues.   I also enjoyed Barbara Douglass as Frankie- surely she must be a mother herself because she was a natural at waddling around with that pregnant belly strapped under her clothes.  Light and clever, she actually plays with the sub-par lines she’s given and manages to imbue them with a little heart.  She’s got good chemistry with her on-stage husband, Dub, played by Dave Sanfacon.  Some of the funniest moments of the whole production are their repartee and clever mirroring medical conditions. Rory Kulz as Raynerd is my other favorite of the night.  Somehow he breathed life into the “village idiot” stereotype and gave the audience a very sensitive performance- and the red flyer wagon was the perfect finishing touch to his ensemble.

Direction by Greg Maraio shines in act two’s holiday pageant, when finally the comedy starts to click into place.  I have to admit that the baby Jesus doll with full beard and blinkie eyes made me laugh out loud, especially with the polar bear holding him upside down.  I almost wish I could have that scene captured in my memory as the entirety of the production, because Maraio clearly helps to lead the cast to the finer points of the script at that moment!

All in all, not my favorite of this season’s Holiday fare, but not a total bust for our friends at Company One and Phoenix Theatre Artists.  I am going to keep coming back.  I am really looking forward to the Company One production that wows me as much as my colleague enjoyed The Overwhelming but I don’t think anything can top last season’s The Memory of Water produced by Phoenix Theatre Artists while still under the “Way” label.

An unusual Christmas Pageant.

One of the best things about new works is their infinite possibility to change and adapt.  It was great to see the growth that was made in the encore of Company One and Phoenix Theatre Artist’s production of The Superheroine Monologues.  I enjoyed the premiere of the piece earlier this year at The Boston Playwrights Theatre, but I could also see the need for revisions and condensing.  I was looking forward to seeing the show again in the MUCH more convenient Boston Center for the Arts. Greg Maraio and Jared Fennelly did a great job adapting the scenic design into the more compact space of the BCA’s black box theater.

One of the major strengths of this piece is the cleverly crafted frame of superheroines throughout the decades- the audience took delight in watching the characters develop through each time period, touching not just the obvious stereotypes from the generation but also the more intimate female experience (tying it in nicely with the theme of the Vagina Monologues from which the show parodied its title).  The actresses do a terrific job of embodying the essence of their given generation, especially Cheryl D. Singleton’s powerful portrayal of Storm as an independent and strong black woman of the 90’s.

Singleton was not the only strong actress in the cast.  In fact, I would say that the cast was one of the best things that the show had going for it, overall.  For a show that lasted well over two hours (closer to three, after all was said and done) it’s a good thing the actresses were as strong as they were, because at times the writing was not good enough to keep the audience interested for solid fifteen minute stretches of one person speaking.  Molly Kimmerling went on as the understudy for Supergirl in the Friday evening performance, and she was perky and fun. She did justice to Jackie McCoy, who originated the role with style.  Christine Power as Phoenix and Shawna O’Brien as Wonder Woman were absolutely wonderful.  Each had essence of a well-cherished character with the subtle nuance of reinvention.  The Wonder Woman monologue, which dominates the first act of the show, is an excellent revision from the original, giving more continuity to the rest of the monologues and giving O’Brien a chance to shine dramatically.  Though all the actresses stood out at one time or another, the hands-down phenomenal performance award would go to Amanda Good Hennessey as Lois Lane.  She had extraordinary comic timing, delicate but articulate mannerisms, and a dizzying vocal speed that made her very long monologue fly by (literally!).  Hennessey only got better since the original run.  It was worth seeing the show for her performance alone. Props to director Greg Maraio for helping this cast find their voices,  even the ensemble was a great treat.

While the piece did benefit from some additions; notably Wonder Woman’s monologue and the new musical vignettes that helped to thread that element into the plot, I still feel that the play is too long.  While I appreciate that there was enough added content to break up the show into two acts, there was still a lot of “fat” that could have been trimmed to make it easier to swallow.  Authors Rick Park and John Kuntz are extremely funny, giving the monologues humor and sophistication, so it is completely confusing to me how they could allow the first 20 minutes of the show, a dramatic recreation of the origin of Wonder Woman, to be the audience’s introduction into their delightful world.  It is long, sloppily written, and is replete with dated jokes (sorry guys, Sarah Palin is –so- 2008).  The “talking pedestals” are contrived and overdone- it just wasn’t funny after the first time. There is no natural flow to the scene, it was so awkward that the girls sounded like they were reading off of cue cards, waiting for the laughs that only reluctantly came.  It is such a bummer to start a show that way.  I think that whole scene could be reworked into a two or three minute introduction that ornaments, not impedes, the subsequent monologues.  I urge them to put some more thought into revisions- cutting it down to two hours would be a vast improvement.

Park and Kuntz have really strong potential for an amazing piece with The Superheroine Monologues. With any new work, there is always room for improvement, and despite its growing pains, I still found it to be entertaining.  There are still two more weekends of performances at the BCA, and I think it is worth seeing- hopefully this show will continue to grow and adapt, like a superheroine would, to reach the biggest possible audience! One additional note- thanks Park and Kuntz, for creating a female-centric show, no matter what the flaws, I celebrate a show that highlights women in all their glory.  The theatre world is woefully preferential to men, and it is really refreshing to get to see a group of talented women shine.

Storm’s powerful reverie