Photo by Lester Smith
Joseph Colangelo reads “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” to an attentive duo of elves, Avaliese Hitchcock and Janine Eitel. The performance was one of the enjoyable acts of the Suffield Youth Theater’s seasonal presentation on December 10.
“A Very Merry Christmas, 2017” is what the Suffield Youth Theater called this year’s holiday production, and the entertaining event certainly left its appreciative audience with a proper Christmas spirit. The Youth Theater’s originators, who were eighth graders then at Suffield Middle School, have aged in the intervening three years, but they have held together though they are now dispersed among two high schools and Suffield Academy. Their shows also include younger kids selected from auditions.
This 14-act production, presented on Sunday evening, December 10, in the Second Baptist Church fellowship hall, included a musical Christmas play, whose scenes were interwoven among ten unrelated instrumental and vocal numbers, all part of the Christmas spirit.
Notable among the performances were Avaliese Hitchcock’s clear and true rendition of “The First Noel” and Abby Bahl’s sweet “Mary, Did You Know.” That lovely carol, only a few decades old, deserves its acceptance as a modern standard. Versatile Brandon Dyer delivered two nice solos: “Jingle Bell Rock” on the piano and a Christmas medley on the guitar. Especially enjoyable was Joseph Colangelo’s animated recitation of “’Twas the Night Before Christmas” to two of the elves.
The amusing little play involved a labor dispute among Santa’s worker elves, who were encouraged by an agitator to walk off the job. They actually marched off in a great Conga line Latin rhythm (shades of this reporter’s 1940’s revels!). Happily, Santa responded generously, even satisfying the agitator, and the world’s children were not denied their toys. The story was written by Janine Eitel and Joseph Colangelo, both 11, who played head elf and the labor agitator.
The finale was an enthusiastic rendition of “Feliz Navidad,” gathering performers until everybody, including the backstage crew, was wishing the delighted audience a “Very Merry Christmas.” The Suffield Youth Theater’s shows have always been satisfying, and this one was particularly imaginative and enjoyable.