A Bright Gem

Playmakers' rendition of An O. Henry Christmas pull the heartstrings

by Robert W. McDowell

SpectatorOnline - PlayMakers Repertory Company's new holiday musical, An O. Henry Christmas, is a thoroughly charming trip down Memory Lane, all the way to snow-covered New York City at the turn of the century. This delightful seasonal show, adapted by Peter Ekstrom and directed by Ted Shaffner, with award-winning music and lyrics by Ekstrom, actually consists of two separate musicals based on a pair of the Tarheel author's classic stories about love and friendship and sacrifice. "The Gift of the Magi" and "The Last Leaf," which will be performed Dec. 8-22 at the Paul Green Theatre as An O. Henry Christmas, both have O. Henry's trademark twist endings.

"The Gift of the Magi" stars guest artists Jay Montgomery and Stephanie Lynge as Jim and Della, the poor-as-church-mice husband and wife who surprise each other with a special gift of love on Christmas Day. Montgomery is handsome and boyish as the $20-a-week clerk who hopes to move his wife and himself to something better than the one-room cold-water flat " a fifth-floor walk-up " that they now occupy in a tenement building. Jim and Della can barely afford food, so there is no money left over for extravagances such as Christmas presents.

Lynge is beautiful and charming as the stay-at-home wife upon whom Montgomery dotes. Lynge and Montgomery have great chemistry and work well together under the sensitive direction of Ted Shaffner. All of this makes the sacrifices that Jim and Della ultimately make all the more poignant and ironic.

"The Last Leaf" is another wintertime story set in another drafty, low-rent flat (again vividly recreated by scenic designer McKay Coble) with handsome period fashions by costumer designer Patrick Holt and skillful changes of light and sound by lighting designer Todd Campbell and sound designer Melissa Marquis.

Guest artists Lauren Ellis and Stephanie Lynge star as an oil painter named Johnsy and a sculptor named Sue. Guest artist Jay Montgomery co-stars as the deeply concerned Doctor who treats Johnsy's near-fatal pneumonia and growing depression, and PlayMakers veteran Ray Dooley co-stars (and steals many a scene) as Behrman, Johnsy and Sue's eccentric Greenwich Village neighbor and fellow artist " a hard-drinking elderly immigrant painter toiling away on his masterpiece.

How the ill and despairing Johnsy's will to live and faith are rekindled through Behrman's love and friendship and sacrifice will undoubtedly leave many audience members with tear-painted cheeks and a lump in the throat.

Ellis and Lynge are just terrific as two independent women and struggling artists working to gain recognition (and lucrative commissions) in New York in 1905. Ray Dooley provides considerable comic relief as Behrman, and Jay Montgomery is the picture of professional concern in his cameo role as the Doctor.

Musical director Mark Lewis (keyboards), Michelle Coppedge (flute) and Blaise Freeman (cello) make Peter Ekstrom's score sparkle. An O. Henry Christmas is a real gem, whose glow gets brighter and brighter as O. Henry's two precious stories unfold.