Center Presents
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer®
The Musical
November 29 – December 29, 2013
Details
A happy and fast-moving family show with clever puppets, bright costumes and an enthusiastic and playful cast of singers and dancers.
Rudolph at the Majestic was a blast for my little guy… He was captivated the entire 90 minutes. Perfect for 8 and under.
Free Cast-Signed Poster with Each Premium Price Ticket!
Take home a commemorative poster signed by the entire cast with each premium ($65) ticket. Visit the Christmastown Shoppe in the Majestic Theatre during your visit to claim your poster.
Rudolph, the most famous reindeer of all, soars off the screen and onto the stage of the historic Majestic Theatre! Wishing Star Productions brings to life this faithful adaptation of the classic holiday story. Rudolph and his friends, Hermey the Elf and Yukon Cornelius, team up to help Santa save Christmas in a holly-jolly musical adventure for theater-goers of all ages! Gather the family together to experience this once-a-year event, where incredible costumes and amazing puppetry bring all of the iconic characters to life.
Adapted from the Animated Television Special Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and all elements from the 1964 television special “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” © and ™, presented under license from Character Arts, LLC. All rights reserved.
Media Sponsors
Special Offer From Hotel Indigo
Hotel Indigo Dallas Downtown has partnered with Wishing Star Productions to offer Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, The Musical attendees a $79 room rate!
Reviews
Dallas — The weather outside was frightful, but inside the Majestic Theater on Thursday night families with young children were smiling and cheering for the “most famous reindeer of all.” Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, the Musical, presented by Wishing Star Productions, is a happy and fast-moving family show with clever puppets, bright costumes and an enthusiastic and playful cast of singers and dancers. The kindergarten crowd, dressed up for the occasion, was especially delighted by the prancing, muscular reindeer costumes that show the actors’ faces below the antlers.
Director Joe Sturgeon adapted the show from the 1964 Bass and Rankin animated television special, first produced at Casa Mañana in Fort Worth when Sturgeon was the resident director there. With its plush red velvet seats, brilliant chandeliers and gold-leaf architectural trim, the Majestic is a terrific venue for a Christmas show. Before the show starts, holiday music fills the air and an intricate snowflake lighting design covers the curtains and ceilings of the theater. When the curtain goes up, we are at the North Pole, suggested by huge, glittering white icebergs designed by Dallas Stage Scenery. Sam the Snowman (Jason C. Kane, a solid tenor with an engaging drawl) performs narrator duties and leads all the sing-alongs.
Right away, we see that baby Rudolph’s family is eager to hide his shiny red nose because it makes him different from all the other reindeer. Even Santa (a lanky and fatherly Doug Lopachin) points out that only the perfect specimen make his sleigh team. As he grows to be a young buck, Rudolph (an energetic and ernest Jordon Brodess) resists his dad’s wish to cover his glowing nose with a big brown ball that makes his voice sound funny.
Meanwhile, over at the toy factory, everybody is rushing to get ready for the big day. The demanding Boss Elf (a stern and glowering Doug Jackson) is hurrying his elf crew, bouncing around in their little green jackets and yellow tights. Boss Elf is furious with Hermey (a sweet-faced and gawky Christopher J. Deaton), a tall, distracted elf who hates making toys and longs to be a dentist. Boss Elf insists Hermey get with the program, go to elf practice, and “learn to wiggle your ears.”
Happily, Hermey and Rudolph meet up and become fast friends, singing “We’re a Couple of Misfits”, a funny duet in which they decide to be themselves, and be “independent together.” Then Rudolph meets the young doe Clarice (wide-eyed Mary McElree), and is smitten. Now he is more determined than ever to make good—for himself and for his friends.
Rudolph and Hermey hit the snowy road, leaving behind the conforming herd and workplace. They meet up with Yukon Cornelius (a foot-stomping funny Greg Dulcie) a crazy gold miner with a giant handlebar mustache and a huge sled pulled by a dachshund. The second act is filled with their adventures, including a trip to the land of rejected toys. The stage fills with huge puppets, imaginatively designed and fabricated by Kathy Kreuter, including a cowboy riding an ostrich, a Charlie-in-the-box, and a bright blue airplane that will not take off. The larger-than-life misfit puppets, unobtrusively and expertly manipulated by actors in white leotards, long to be loved by a child, as they wistfully sing “The Most Wonderful Day of the Year.”
Suddenly, everybody is terrified when a huge storm blows through. Bumble the Abominable Snowman, an enormous 11-foot puppet operated by three people, has all the elves and reindeer in a dither. But nobody stays in danger or disgrace too long. The foggy Christmas Eve arrives, Santa needs some special help, and high overhead we see a familiar sleigh flying across the stage. Before you can finish singing “Holly, Jolly Christmas,” the whole cast is celebrating the marvelous misfit hero of the show. The weather held crowds to a minimum the night I saw the show, but everybody there was shouting and singing along with Sam the Snowman, celebrating Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
The show runs 90 music- and action-packed minutes, including a 15-minute intermission to re-charge with hot chocolate. This leaves plenty of time after the show for the excited young theatergoers to take pictures with the reindeer and Santa in the lobby.
Every child growing up knows the story of Rudolph: how he had a bright red nose that caused him to be shunned by all of Santa’s reindeer, but in the end, it was that red nose that saved Christmas. Any child of the ‘70s and ‘80s also remembers the 1964 claymation Christmas special that told of Rudolph’s beginnings and an adventure he had when he decided to run away from home and the taunting he received from his playmates. I still watch it every year, and the touching story never gets old. Throughout the month of December, leading into Christmas, the gorgeous and historic Majestic Theater is playing host to Wishing Star Production’s “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Musical”.
If you’ve watched the claymation special, the musical follows along the same storylines. Santa’s reindeer Donner (Jonathan Bragg) and his wife Mrs Donner (Emily Ford) are blessed with a baby reindeer they name Rudolph. They are stunned to see that instead of a little black nose like they have, their fawn has a great big red nose that glows bright. To keep him from being teased, they place a nub over Rudolph’s nose, which not only covers it up, but causes him to talk a little funny. When he gets older, Rudolph (Jordan Brodess) is sent off for the yearly Reindeer Games, where all of Santa’s young reindeer try their luck at learning the necessary skills to pull the sleigh on Christmas Eve. While Rudolph is certainly skilled at flying, he also catches the eye of pretty doe Clarice (Mary McElree). His nose also comes to light, and he is kicked out of the games. Sad, he decides to run away. At the same time, Santa’s elves are busy making toys for Santa to deliver. Well, all but one elf. Hermey (Christopher J. Deaton) is not interested in making toys at all. He wants to be a dentist, something that gets him ostracized from the elven community. He decides to run away, and in the woods finds Rudolph. They decide to team up and find someplace where other misfits like themselves can live happily ever after. It’s on this trip that they run into kooky prospector Yukon Cornelius (Greg Dulcie), and together the trio manage to outrun the Bumble (what we call the Abominable Snowman) and find the Island of Misfit Toys- complete with a Charlie in the Box!- and soon come to realize that maybe running away wasn’t such a swell idea after all.
The production of this musical was brilliant. The show had all the same characters as the television special, including talking snowman Sam (Jason C. Kane), who guided the story along and even lead an audience sing-along of “Silver and Gold”. The stage itself is kept pretty simple, and there are so many elements of the special that it’s pretty easy to forget it is a stage musical. We took our nephew, who has a hard time sitting still for any lengthy period of time, and it was entertaining enough- and the show progressed fairly quickly- that he was engrossed the entire time with the stage, and not everything around him. With added songs and some puppetry, “Rudolph” is a fantastic holiday show for the entire family.
“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Musical” is at The Majestic Theater- which in its own right is worth the trip, as it is positively breathtaking inside- until 29 December. For ticket information, visit http://www.attpac.org, or call the box office at 2147.880.0202.
