A career woman from the big city gets stranded in a quaint town just before but somehow finds love on the holiday with a prince in disguise 香蕉视频直播� or a high school crush 香蕉视频直播� or a widowed father.
Sounds like a plot line from a Hallmark Channel holiday movie? This Christmas, stories like this are also playing out off-screen on theater stages around the country. As spoofs.
While a lot of theatre companies are dusting off traditional chestnuts like 香蕉视频直播淎 Christmas Carol香蕉视频直播� or 香蕉视频直播淲hite Christmas,香蕉视频直播� some are tackling the TV Christmas rom-com. Almost like a plot from Hallmark香蕉视频直播檚 playbook, regional and community theatres are putting on a festive show. But these are gentle send-ups of the films and all their cheesy spirit.
Love 香蕉视频直播榚m or hate 香蕉视频直播檈m, formulaic meet-cute holiday flicks have become as tied to the yuletide as ugly sweaters and hot chocolate. Theater directors say the movies have a universal appeal since most audiences can recognize the story beats. And judging by the high ticket sales, these parodies are gaining a holly jolly reception.
Meet our stars, Holly, Joy and Carol
Ghostlight Theatre, a community theater in the Phoenix suburb of Sun City West, is presenting 香蕉视频直播淭he Holiday Channel Christmas Movie Wonderthon,香蕉视频直播� by Don Zolidis. The story juggles six different would-be couples at the same Vermont inn.
They all represent archetypes, from the movie star seeking anonymity to a Christmas-themed shop proprietor. All the female characters have holiday-ish names like Holly, Joy and Carol. In one funny twist, real-life husband and wife Michael and GinaKay Howell play one of the couples. She says the experience has been 香蕉视频直播渢he greatest Christmas present.香蕉视频直播� Their courtship banter, however, was nothing like in the play.
香蕉视频直播淭here are moments where I香蕉视频直播檓 like, 香蕉视频直播榃hat? What are we even saying?香蕉视频直播櫹憬妒悠抵辈 laughed Michael, who plays the prince of a fictitious country with a 香蕉视频直播淏orat香蕉视频直播�-like accent. 香蕉视频直播淚t really hit the nail on the head of everything that Hallmark stands for and then, like, makes fun of it.香蕉视频直播�
Zach Athanasakis, the director, emphasized to the 16-member cast that much of the humor depends on them saying their lines with a straight face.
香蕉视频直播淎 lot of these lines are very, very corny and you have to be able to say it with your chest and really, truly embody how much weight that holds for the character in it 香蕉视频直播� no matter how silly it is,香蕉视频直播� Athanasakis said.
Laura Vines, Ghostlight香蕉视频直播檚 executive director and co-founder, had been looking for something 香蕉视频直播渢hat would kind of set us apart香蕉视频直播� in metro Phoenix. She read in a Facebook group that another community theater had found a hit in 香蕉视频直播淲onderthon.香蕉视频直播� Economically, the show doesn香蕉视频直播檛 break the bank to stage.
香蕉视频直播淚t actually in the script calls for everybody to just wear red and green sweaters. We香蕉视频直播檙e doing something a little bit different, but it香蕉视频直播檚 kind of along those lines,香蕉视频直播� Vines said.
Five gol-den rings! And an audience embrace
The day before Thanksgiving, Broadway Rose Theatre Company in Tigard, Oregon, unwrapped 香蕉视频直播淔ive Golden Rings: A Greeting Card Channel Holiday Musical.香蕉视频直播� This show also takes place in a Vermont bed-and-breakfast with a protagonist named Holly. She香蕉视频直播檚 a business executive who falls for the 香蕉视频直播渉unky lumberjack widower香蕉视频直播� owner of the B&B, said the director, Dan Murphy.
The regional theater, which employs 250 people, has built a reputation for choosing shows 香蕉视频直播渙ff the beaten path,香蕉视频直播� says Murphy, a founding member. He really felt good about the choice when he saw the reactions across age groups.
香蕉视频直播淭his last weekend we had a group of donors come in and watch rehearsals and they were laughing at some of the jokes,香蕉视频直播� Murphy said. 香蕉视频直播淭he crew, they are interns from high school seniors to college. They come in and watch a rehearsal. They were laughing hysterically.香蕉视频直播�
At both theaters, most performances for the Hallmark spoofs have sold out.
Murphy thinks people are looking for something different but still multigenerational. Plus, tried-and-true favorites like 香蕉视频直播淭he Nutcracker香蕉视频直播� and 香蕉视频直播淒r. Seuss香蕉视频直播� How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical香蕉视频直播� will be around every December.
香蕉视频直播淚t might scare some theaters. For us doing this, it香蕉视频直播檚 a risk that we香蕉视频直播檙e taking that香蕉视频直播檚 totally paying off,香蕉视频直播� Murphy said.
Some theaters set the action in their own quaint town
The Williamston Theatre in Williamston, Michigan, is reviving an original play by John Lepard, a founding member of the company, who binged 15 Hallmark Christmas movies, taking notes, and then sat down to write 香蕉视频直播淎 Very Williamston Christmas香蕉视频直播� in 2022.
香蕉视频直播淭he reason I wrote this is because my wife found something on YouTube, like a three-minute spoof,香蕉视频直播� Lepard said. 香蕉视频直播淪he said, 香蕉视频直播榊ou should write something like this for the theater.香蕉视频直播櫹憬妒悠抵辈
It took him about a month to knock out a script. He used the nom de plume Robert Hawlmark, thus making it a 香蕉视频直播淗awlmark original.香蕉视频直播� The play is a love letter to Williamston, which has a population just over 3,800. The corporate career gal comes home from the big city of Lansing, the state capital 20 miles (32 kilometers) to the north.
香蕉视频直播淎 lot of people said seeing our town get to be in a Hallmark movie was really fun,香蕉视频直播� said Lepard, who is directing.
But the play香蕉视频直播檚 appeal isn香蕉视频直播檛 limited to Williamston. Lepard has gotten requests to license it to theaters elsewhere in Michigan, and in Texas and Colorado. They could rejigger it like a Mad Libs game, he said, and 香蕉视频直播渏ust plug in your town, your local antique store and all the things local to your place.香蕉视频直播�
The source material is treated fondly
Hallmark is on board with these stage shows satirizing their 香蕉视频直播渧ibrant, beloved storytelling style.香蕉视频直播�
香蕉视频直播淚t makes sense to us that it香蕉视频直播檚 leapt off the screen and onto the stage,香蕉视频直播� Samantha DiPippo, senior vice president of programming, said in a statement. In the plays, she said, 香蕉视频直播減eople are finding fun ways to emulate our signature messages of hope, love, humor, and meaningful connection in their own communities.香蕉视频直播�
The send-ups gently jab at the movies 香蕉视频直播� not the movie-watchers, Athanasakis made clear. Both those who relish and those who roll their eyes at Hallmark Christmas fodder will have a good laugh.
The goal, he says, is being able to poke fun 香蕉视频直播渋n a way that香蕉视频直播檚 not necessarily disrespectful to Hallmark movies, but in a way that it takes those jokes and just makes them that much bigger香蕉视频直播� on the stage.
香蕉视频直播淚n a movie, you still want to keep a sense of realism,香蕉视频直播� he said. 香蕉视频直播淚n a show like this, you don香蕉视频直播檛 have to.香蕉视频直播�
