A dear Lamb’s tradition — their annual Christmas show — is back, albeit with a few changes. Two years ago, Lamb’s Players Theatre moved changed direction with the spirit of their Christmas show, formerly called “Lamb’s Festival of Christmas,” moving the focus from a play with music to a full-fledged music show.
Robert Smyth, Producing Artistic Director of Lamb’s Players Theater, provided some insight ahead of this year’s holiday show. “We have done a festive Christmas show since 1978. It’s almost always been a script that has a lot of music in it. A lot of different musical directors have worked with us over the years.” The show evolved in 2023. “We did a piece called ”R-E-S-P-E-C-T,” which was a world premiere that we presented in the ’80s and again in 2023. It was a huge hit. We were coming up with what we were going to do for Christmas, and we thought what if we took the cast of R-E-S-P-E-C-T and the cast of “Million Dollar Quartet” that we had had such a huge hit with the year before, and put them together? We looked to develop a Christmas show out of it and that’s where “R-E-S-P-E-C-T-F-U-L-L-Y Christmas” came from.
Read more about upcoming changes to Lamb’s here.
“R-E-S-P-E-C-T-F-U-L-L-Y Christmas”
It’s been some time since I have been to Lamb’s and every time I am back in the theater, I fall in love with the experience all over again. Everyone on the Lamb’s staff is so friendly, the theater is intimate, and every show is cast so well.
“R-E-S-P-E-C-T-F-U-L-L-Y Christmas” is comprised of 14 of Lamb’s actors, singers, and musicians. They all balance each other, and it is well synchronized. Right from the opening number on the piano and with a few fun plays on theater protocol woven into the show, it was the jolliest rollercoaster I have been on.
There were dueling rock and roll guitars during “Little St. Nick” (The Beach Boys). There were show stopping solos like “Silent Night.” The tongue in cheek role reversal of “Baby Benny, It’s Cold Outside” was hands down my favorite.
Angela Chatelain Avila is enchanting from her voice to her guitar skills to playing the violin. Every time I looked somewhere else, there she was again showcasing a different talent. Bryan Barbarin brought the energy, inciting clapping throughout the audience to “Run Rudolph, Run.” There was even a song that referred to both Stake and McP’s, which was a nice nod to Coronado. I also enjoyed when they provided short introductions to some of the songs including a history behind their origin.
My cousin Maggie joined me for the performance. She shared her thoughts, “The show was very well planned out, with special thought clearly given to showcasing each performer’s unique talents. It was a show made around the performers, rather than the other way around. The only gripe I had was that there were a few too many slow songs in a row at one point.”
After seeing the previous version of Lamb’s Christmas show, this one was far more singing than acting. I would have enjoyed a few more humorous skits, but that’s just me. The ugly sweater number at the end had me dying with laughter.
“R-E-S-P-E-C-T-F-U-L-L-Y Christmas” is playing now through December 29, 2024. Join the cast in a Joyous Celebration of Christmas songs & carols!
Running Time: 90 minutes, without an Intermission
Age Appropriateness: Ages 5 years and up
Dates: Nov 26 – Dec 29, 2024
1142 Orange Ave.
619-437-6000
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The article about the Lambs playhouse and the most recent play, Resoectfully, superb. I didn’t expect anything less knowing your writing style. I was surprised at the “lead in” to the article. Quite original and very much @where is she going with this”. Love it.