**** For years, my readers and listeners have heard me say that seeing a play more than once is a wonderful treat. Unlike a film where one sees the same thing every time, live theater is unique. A different director, venue, cast, choreographer and guess what? You are seeing the same title, but with a different and unique interpretation. And so it was as I went into The Citadel Theatre in Lake Forest and their production of “Eleanor’s Very Merry Christmas Wish- The Musical”.I was witness to the 2019 World Premiere at The Greenhouse Theatre on Lincoln Avenue. The musical is based on the book written by Denise McGowan Tracy, who also wrote the play version and joined in the composing of the music and lyrics for this one with Katherine Butler-Duplessis. Christmas is a time for hopes and dreams. For both children and their parents and as we all know, a time of year when all people can feel the magic of the season. There are a number of Christmas plays that are geared for children and families and when I first saw this one, I felt the wonder and awe of the kids that I had brought with me . Today, I did not have a junior writer as I was seeing a new version of a play I had already seen, so my review is pretty much about the uniqueness of this production and what Citadel has done to Denise’s story.
As always, I arrived early. Partly so I could make sure that I had placed my order to purchase a seat at Citadel ( in memory of my dad and brother) and also to see what Citadel did before the show. They did talk to some of the audience members and the kids and I later discovered that they used that information when Santa was reading letters from children. It was kind of neat to watch the kids react to their names and wishes being read by Santa ( by the way, as a Santa, who for over 50 years has been doing this, I must say that I was quite impressed by Bob Sanders- GREAT WORK!).
Directed by Gregg Dennhardt ( who also designed the costumes) I was quite impressed by the reusing of the set that the theater had just used for “She Loves Me” being converted from a Perfumery to The North Pole. Great work by Jason Clark and crew. The choreography (Brenda Good) was adorable and worked well on the intimate stage at Citadel. Kyra Leigh’s musical direction was right on and the casting was effective. The mix of adults and kids was near perfect. 
The story is quite simple. Eleanor is a rag doll ( think of Raggedy Ann) who lives at the North Pole and wonders why no one has asked Santa for a gift like her, so she could be a “best friend” to a little girl. Elizabeth Bushell brings the rag doll to life. Over the course of the one hour musical, we will learn the entire story of why she is still there and we will meet the little girl, Noelle (Asha Dale Hopman, who also plays an elf) who writes an amazing letter and brings Eleanor to the true happiness that she has been waiting ( or should I say, “wishing”) for.
The other cast members are as follows: Chloe Bassett as Clara Claus,, Ashley Veltman as Mrs. Claus , also known as “Cookie” because she is always baking cookies for everyone, Angelica Joy Trygar, Nico Caputo , Mia Abraham and Kylie Sullivan. They not only sing and dance, they help change the set pieces to keep the flow of action moving. Those of us who attend a number of family shows, understand that little ones are a tough audience. They need to be swept into the story right away so they do not get lost. This show was designed to do just that and for the most part is right on top of it. We know that you cannot expect 100% co-operation from little ones, but we got pretty close.
“”Eleanor’s Very Merry Christmas Wish” will continue thru December 31st with curtain times as follows:
Sat, Dec 23:10:00am & 1:00pmTue, Dec 26:3:00pm & 6:00pm
Wed, Dec 27:3:00pm & 6:00pm
Thu, Dec 28:3:00pm & 6:00pm
Fri, Dec 29:3:00pm & 6:00pm
Sat, Dec 30:10:00am & 1:00pm
Sun, Dec 31:10:00am & 1:00pm
Show Type: Children/family
Tickets are $20 and available by calling the box office
Box Office: 847-735-8554, ext 1
The theater is located at 300 S. Waukegan Road in Lake Forest with plenty of free parking
To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Eleanor’s Very Merry Christmas Wish- The Musical”.
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