[NEohioPAL] SANDERS FAMILY CHRISTMAS - A Second Great Review -- Cleveland Scene

[Neil Thackaberry]

Down Home For The Holidays

Actors' Summit Celebrates A Cozy Country Christmas 


Charming is the word for the singing and story-telling now onstage at
Actors' Summit in Hudson. It's unusual to see talented actors who are
also accomplished musicians, but director MaryJo Alexander has assembled
a superb cast to celebrate Sanders Family Christmas.


It's Christmas Eve and the congregation of the Mount Pleasant Baptist
Church - that's us, all the folks in the audience - have gathered for
the traditional carol service. But this is 1941 - less than three weeks
after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Some of our boys have already gone to
war. Others, like young Dennis Sanders, will be on the bus in the
morning. We owe them a big send-off, a touch of home and faith that will
strengthen us all in the days to come. Who better to lead us in song and
prayer than the renowned Sanders Family? 


When the play opens, Brother Oglethorpe is alone in the sacristy with
young June Sanders. She's the plain, non-singing member of the family
who does all the heavy lifting, including in this case Brother
Oglethorpe's spirits. Since the passing of his beloved Mama last August,
things just have not been right with the tender-hearted, slightly inept
Mervin. But it's impossible to stay depressed around a woman as
practical and matter-of-fact as June. She has her own way of bearing
witness, Oglethorpe assures us with more than a little enthusiasm, but
June fails to pick up on these semi-romantic clues. 


The evening gets off to a strong start as the family enters with that
energy characteristic of people coming in from the cold - a situation
with which the congregation is all too familiar. Soon Mama and Brother
Oglethorpe are lobbing bible verses at each other with almost military
precision. "Love one another," Daddy chides gently, citing chapter and
verse. These southern Baptists are experts at this kind of
communication, and their praising of the Lord covers a wealth of irony. 


Actors' Summit newcomer MaryAnn Elder plays Mama to feisty red-headed
perfection, and the lovely Constance Thackaberry transforms herself into
a plain June with wire-rimmed specs and self-effacing charm. The
multi-talented Dana Hart plays Burl Sanders, the family patriarch, and
Keith Stevens shines as the boyish and befuddled Oglethorpe.



Daniel H. Taylor is Uncle Stanley, the Sanders with a past, who has just
returned from Hollywood and a stint with Gene Autry. Jamie Koeth and
Kathleen Culler play twins Dennis and Denise, both blessed with
beautiful voices, and accomplished musicians to boot - he on the guitar
and she on the flute. 


The piece sags a little in the second act, mostly from the
all-too-realistic difficulties of staging Brother Oglethorpe's
silly"Christmas in Many Lands." But the beautiful, old-fashioned carols
and the strong, engaging characters - each with a personal story to tell
- keep things moving along right smartly. 

Sanders Family Christmas is the sequel to Connie Ray's popular bluegrass
musical, Smoke on the Mountain, which introduces the Sanders family in a
similar format. If we're all very, very good and Actors' Summit can hold
on to this strong cast, we may get to see them both in rep next season. 


arts at clevescene.com 

Sanders Family Christmas Through December 21 Actors' Summit Theater 86
Owen Brown St., Hudson 330.342.0800 

arts at freetimes.com 

 

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