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UPDATE: NEW DATES ADDED! Connie Fisher Review: “Winter Wonderettes” Dazzle the Armour Street Theatre with Christmas Tunes and Cheer

by | Dec 6, 2022 | Arts & Entertainment, Davidson Community Players, News, Top Middle Box

Dec 17, 2pm
Dec 18, 7pm
Dec 19, 8pm

 

** Seats are also still available for many original performance dates as well.

All seats reserved

Adults – $20
Seniors (65+) – $18
Students (to age 21) – $15
Plus NC Admission tax and processing fee

TICKETS AVAILABLE TO RESERVE AT THIS LINK.

If you’d like to get into the Christmas mood, the Davidson Community Players production of Winter Wonderettes is the ticket. Four talented, singing dancers will Rock You Around the Christmas Tree with such energetic delight you’ll begin to rock in your own favorite seat at the Armour Street Theatre. Four lovely swinging hoofers onstage really are the dedicated employees of Harper’s Hardware Store.

(Cheryl Wade photo)

Cindy Lou, all decked out in shining pink, is the naughty girl of the group played with élan by Iris DeWitt. Pregnant, happy-go-lucky Suzy is portrayed by Becky Layman who cheerfully bounces around in a silky blue party dress offset by fussy, lacy under drawers.

Betty Jean, the self-appointed clown who fancies herself leader of the group is played with self-assurance by Jenna Tyrell, sporting a bright green taffeta gown.

And the role of Missy, the overachiever who knows it all, is delivered with assurance by Christie Lee Wolf in an elegant rust colored frock, wearing an ugly pair of wing-tipped eyeglasses that were so popular at that time.

The seasonal musical Winter Wonderettes by Roger Bean is directed, choreographed and with props designed by DCPs Education Director Katie Mullis. Marshall Cesena is the musical director, and the well-appointed, intricate set is designed by Clay James. It’s terrific!

Harper’s Hardware Store is all decked out for the 1968 holidays while snow is falling outside the store windows. The atmosphere inside, however, is rapidly heating up for the annual Christmas party Mr. Harper throws each year for all his employees from every department of the store.

Chanting the tune from Mister Sandman, which becomes Mister Santa, the swinging group of girls beckons the arrival of Ol’ Man Harper who traditionally plays Santa Claus. They wait and harmonize his grand entrance once again—and again. But Santa doesn’t show, and Betty Jean sets off

(Cheryl Wade photo)

to find him—without success. The jolly, roly-poly man in red is nowhere to be found.

Never mind, the versatile Wonderettes continue to entertain the company’s employees with classic 60s holiday tunes—like Jingle Bell Rock and Run Rudolph Run ending up with a medley of their version of Christmas songs and customs from around the world—however maladroit.

(Cheryl Wade photo)

Act Two is a house full of fun! Could it be that the skilled entertainers were imbibing during the entr’acte? All four thespians return to the stage filled with ingeniously creative Christmas cheer and flirtatious mischief in mind. Missy even ditched her hideous eyewear! Guys in the audience beware—you’ll never know if a luscious hoofer might land on your lap! We’re all invited to click, ring, and sing—stand, sit, laugh, and clap. Santa Baby…What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?

But you don’t have to wait until then. The show goes on over the next two weeks.  Performances have been added to the original schedule of Winter Wonderettes. The Christmas show may be seen at 8 p.m,. Thursday through Saturday nights this week, December 8 – 10, and on Sunday evening, December 11, at 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday matinees are at 2 p.m.

Next week, on Wednesday – Saturday December 14 – 17 and on Monday December 19 the curtain rises at 8 p.m. Matinee shows begin at 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday December 17 and 18 with an added performance on Sunday at 7 p.m.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town.

Connie Fisher

Connie Fisher, neé Consuelo Carmona, is a Davidson resident who grew up in Mexico City where she became a journalist and acquired a taste for the theatre. Her preference for work behind the scenes led to an interest in writing reviews—Yale Rep among her favorite troupes. Connie is the author of Doing it the Right Way, the biography of an Italian hatmaker. Her prose appears with 87 other international writers in The Widows’ Handbook. An active, founding member of Lake Norman Writers, Connie just released her latest book, "The Mongrel, Bi-cultural Adventures of a Latina-Scandinavian Youth," a memoir about her years growing up in Mexico.​

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