A Trio of Holiday Shows on the East End

The East End is far from short on holiday theater cheer this year, as a trio of seasonal productions are taking place on both the North and South forks. Here is a guide to the must-see shows, fit for a holiday treat.

Husband and wife showrunners Ethan Popp and Vanessa Leuck of Broadway on the North Fork are bringing back their “one-man immersive adaptation” of Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” for 2022.

Actor Scott H. Severance will perform the classic tale at Shelter Island’s historic Ram’s Head Inn on Saturday, December 10, as a dinner-theater production. Though the original material is courtesy of Charles Dickens, of course, the script for this production was crafted by Severance, with some additions courtesy of Leuck and Popp.

Popp explained that the idea for this show was launched on the North Fork in 2020, after both he and Leuck were furloughed from their flourishing New York theater careers in March due to COVID-19, and they found themselves riding out the pandemic from their second home in Greenport.

“We spent vast amounts of the next eight months not working and trying to figure out a way, not only to get ourselves back in a in a creative space, but hopefully to employ some of our fellow artists that had also been furloughed,” explained Popp, “We wanted to start bringing entertainment back to the masses, so to speak, at a time when there was no live entertainment.”

So Popp and Leuck started Broadway on the North Fork and launched the theatrical program in December 2020 with their first production of “A Christmas Carol,” which Severance presented as a socially distanced, immersive dinner theater experience staged in a festive outdoor setting at Greenport’s First and South Restaurant & Bar.

The show returned to the North Fork in 2021, again, as an outdoor production. But this year, the show is coming to Shelter Island and for the first time since its inception, will be offered indoors, Leuck said, adding that she wanted to make sure the menu and the venue both had a “Victorian party feel.” That led the duo to choosing the Ram’s Head Inn for this year’s production.

“We went out and saw the space and just fell in love with it,” Leuck said.

“Our vision at the Ram’s Head Inn is to bring fun and entertaining experiences to our guests all year long and this partnership does just that,” added Aandrea Carter, proprietor of the Ram’s Head Inn, in a statement. “Shelter Island is a wonderful place to spend time and it’s our privilege to add a bit of sparkle to the holiday season. We look forward to the event and many more experiences with Broadway on the North Fork.”

“A Christmas Carol” at the Ram’s Head Inn will open with a wassail winter cocktail, traditionally made with apple cider, ginger, lemon, spices and bourbon. There will also be a cash bar. Then, at 6 p.m., appetizers and act one of the show will be performed. During an intermission, entrees will be served, followed by act two. Each act runs for about 35 minutes. In keeping with the festive theme of Victorian Christmas, the menu at the Ram’s Head will include a choice of seasonal entrees like roasted cod in a cockles, muscles and root vegetable stew; chestnut and sausage stuffed pork loin with onion and sage gravy, turnips and cabbage; and braised beef short ribs with glazed carrots, duchess potatoes and port wine.

As the star of this show, Scott H. Severance comes to his role with a good deal of experience, having previously starred as Scrooge in the national tour of “A Christmas Carol,” as Tevye in “Fiddler on the Roof,” Harold in “The Full Monty,” King Triton in “The Little Mermaid” and Edna in “Hairspray.” Severance also appeared in the films “Fever Pitch” starring Drew Barrymore and “Clear History” with Larry David.

Popp and Leuck have known Severance for years, and they reached out to him for this production back in 2020, due to his previous stints in the classic Scrooge role. He then crafted the script for the show with Popp and Leuck throwing in some material of their own.

Leuck is a theatrical producer and costume designer, having worked on productions such as “Crime Obsessed” (Hayes Theater), “Wonderland” (Tuacahn Center for the Arts), “Godspell” (Pittsburgh CLO), “Emojiland” (The Duke on 42nd Street), and Disney on Ice. Popp is a Grammy-nominated music producer and an Olivier Award and two-time Tony Award-nominated orchestrator, with a list of credits including the Broadway shows “Motown,” “Rock Of Ages” and “School of Rock,” among others. On screen, he was the vocal coach for Oscar-winner Rami Malek in “Bohemian Rhapsody,” while in 2016, his work as music director and music production supervisor for the 20th Century Fox film “The Greatest Showman” helped take the Grammy-winning soundtrack worldwide.

Tickets to Broadway on the North Fork’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol” at the Ram’s Head Inn are $125, which includes a three-course meal, and can be purchased at theramsheadinn.com. The show runs 6 to 9 p.m. The Ram’s Head Inn is at 108 South Ram Island Drive on Shelter Island.

Northeast Stage is presenting the classic film-to-stage production of “It’s a Wonderful Life” as a live radio play at Holy Trinity Church in Greenport from Friday, December 16, to Sunday, December 18.

The production was written in radio play format by Connecticut-based playwright Joe Landry, and is being directed by Michael Disher, who is best known as the longtime director of Center Stage at Southampton Cultural Center.

The classic film, and this staged radio version, tells the story of George Bailey, a businessman who, due to a series of personal setbacks, is deeply depressed during Christmastime and contemplates ending his life before an angel appears to show him what life would had been like had he never been born.

“I have directed or mounted this production five or six times to date, but with each incarnation I learned a little bit more about George Bailey, and a little bit more about myself,” said Disher in a recent interview.

“I also believe that any presentation of this piece completely and earnestly impacts each and every audience member who again witnesses the revelation of George Bailey’s doubts and worth as a man, husband, father and human,” he added.

Disher said what he is most excited about with this production is the intimate nature that comes from performing the show in a church setting.

“I would say the seating capacity is maybe 50,” Disher explained. “So the whole radio studio audience perspective, both of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ and the live radio play, will certainly be enhanced by this closeness.”

However, as Disher puts it, “this ain’t my first rodeo” with radio-style holiday plays. In past years, he has directed “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “A Christmas Carol,” “Miracle on 34th Street” and “Meet Me in St. Louis,” all in theatrical radio format.

Going forward, Disher is also looking forward to the possibility of working with his dear friend, playwright Joe Landry, on additional holiday productions.

“What makes Joe’s pieces so brilliant is that he interrupts the programming with vintage advertisement and jingles from the 1940s,” Disher said, making it feel like a true, live radio show from the era.

Given how busy people are during the holiday season, Disher explains that the cast is only doing five rehearsals in the lead up to opening night, which he said may actually work to his advantage.

“When they open on Friday the 16th, it will be as if the actors are coming into work that evening and they’re handed the scripts, and then 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, they are live,” said Disher.

This is also Disher’s first time back with Northeast Stage after directing for them once, 15 years ago.

“There’s a wonderful spirit of community and community support, within Greenport,” he said. “And a, homespun, nostalgic, somewhat Norman Rockwell feel.”

Casting the production was “joy” and brought another level of excitement for Disher, he said.

“There are some new talents from the North Fork I have never met,” he said. “And lo and behold, some people that I have worked with, whom I have not worked with for upwards of 10 to 15 years, showed up because they wanted to do another show with me.”

The cast includes Nicholas Auletti, Esmerelda Cabrera, Susan Cincotta, Mike Colt, Tim Ferris, Rich Gardini, Joey Giovingo, Fred Hansen, John Lovett, Katrina Lovett, Laura Pearsall, Suzette Reiss, Deb Rothaug, Michaal Lyn Schepps, Amie Sponza, Stuart Whalen and Dan Yaiullo.

“It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play” by Northeast Stage runs December 16 to December 18 at Holy Trinity Church, 768 Main Street Greenport. Shows are Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., and Sunday at 3 p.m. Tickets are $20 at northeaststage.org or at the door. The show is a fundraiser for Northeast Stage’s 2023 Free Shakespeare in the Park program. Baked goods will be offered for sale at the shows.

Luckily for South Forkers, the North Fork isn’t the only place offering a production of “It’s a Wonderful Life” this holiday season. Playwright Joe Landry’s live radio play version will also be presented by the Hampton Theatre Company at the Quogue Community Hall for one weekend only, from December 16 to December 18.

The show will run for a compact 45 minutes and recreates for live audiences the “high-wire, high-spirited energy of a ’40s-era radio troupe, complete with music and sound effects generated both by actors onstage and recordings in the booth.”

Eight HTC actors in period costumes will be performing the play, taking on multiple roles on a set depicting the studio of the fictional WBFR radio station in New York City.

While assembling this season’s play list for the company, the show’s director, Andrew Botsford, said HTC chose to include a short holiday production that could run for a single weekend. Both for ease, and in order to spread some seasonal cheer, HTC settled on the radio play format.

“They’re sort of a one-shot deal,” he explained of the genre. “We get the scripts together. We do a couple of rehearsals and then we go and do it and we read from the scripts. We don’t have to have a set. We don’t have to memorize our lines. We don’t have to have blocking. So it’s easy.”

In order to make the production feel authentic, as if it were actually being performed live in front of studio spectators, the show will feature an “applause” sign and an “on the air” sign that will signal the audience at the appropriate moments.

Each member of the cast is also taking on multiple roles in the show.

“There’s probably 30 different roles in this thing,” said Botsford. “But just like in radio plays, people use a different voice. They step up and the audience has to just hear the words and the action and the emotions and so forth, but without seeing them in costume and playing one role at a time.”

Just as in the North Fork production, the rehearsals for the HTC show will be limited. Botsford predicts the cast will meet just three or four times prior to opening night. But ultimately, he expects the show to be an uplifting seasonal celebration.

“We are still doing our best to make it a fun, holiday thing for families to do,” Botsford said.

The cast includes Andrew Botsford, Rosemary Cline, Matthew Conlan, Rebecca Edana, Terrence Fiore, Amanda Griemsmann, George Loizides and Roger Moley, each playing “denizens of Bedford Falls and/or in-studio radio announcers.” Lighting design is by Sebastian Paczynski, sound by Seamus Naughton and costumes by Teresa Lebrun.

“It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play” will be performed by Hampton Theatre Company at the Quogue Community Hall, 125 Jessup Avenue, Quogue, from December 16 to 18. Shows are Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 2:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Audience members are encouraged to arrive early for complimentary hot cider, hot chocolate and cookies before the show, which runs 45 minutes without intermission. Tickets are $10 at hamptontheatre.org or by calling 631-653-8955.