O. Henry's glorious gifts

"An O. Henry Christmas," presented by PlayMakers Repertory Company.

By HARRY HARGRAVE, Correspondent

CHAPEL HILL -- With its production of "An 0. Henry Christmas," PlayMakers Repertory Company is creating yet another Christmas classic for the theater. With its theme of the power and importance of giving as a human expression of love, the piece takes us right back to the Magi and the first Christmas. Add bright, beautiful music -- always tuneful, sometimes operatic -- and the package sparkles.

Writer, composer, lyricist Peter Ekstrom has taken two stories by North Carolina native 0. Henry (William Sydney Porter), dramatized them and added his own lovely songs. "The Gift of the Magi" is familiar and dear, the story about the newly married couple. She has lovely, lovely hair, and he is the proud owner of his father's handsome watch. It is Christmas, and you probably remember what happens.

Denser and less well-known is "The Last Leaf," the story of two budding artists who share a Greenwich Village apartment. Sue is a sculptor and fashion illustrator; Johnsy is a true artist with the ambition one day to capture the beauty of the Bay of Naples. Herr Behrman is their artistic neighbor, who aspires but can't create. But what he manages to give to Johnsy when she falls ill and loses the will to live is quite a creation and a gift of great proportions.

The scene is turn-of-the-century New York. The play starts as musicians stand caroling for Christmas. Then flutist Michelle Coppedge, cellist Blaise Freeman and pianist Mark Lewis enter and take up their instruments, and the magic begins.

The cast is small and young. In "The Gift of the Magi," Jay Montgomery is bright and bumbling as husband Jim. He points and shouts, "Your hair is gone! Your hair is gone! Your hair is gone!" Wife Della is Stephanie Lynge, who has both presence and a lovely voice as she sings "What Can I Give Him?"

In "The Last Leaf" Lynge is again a bright presence as roommate Sue. At the end she adds a wistful note as she sings a haunting "Listen to the Wind." But it is Lauren Ellis who is properly melodramatic as the talented Johnsy, battling the terrible pneumonia. Ray Dooley is the very Germanic Herr Behrman, and Montgomery is the young and handsome doctor.

Set designer McKay Coble uses a stark brick wall and a black iron stair to create the feeling of industrial New York. Lighting designer Todd Campbell creates wonderful effects as he reveals Behrman's gift to Johnsy, which we never see. But sometimes his force is blunted by light spillover that reveals the audience's clodhoppers and slothful posture.

"An 0. Henry Christmas" is a bright and sparkling present. And Peter Ekstrom's music is exceptional.