"Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus"

November 21, 2021 — Andrew J. Fenady and Val de Crowl wrote a teleplay around the famous letter to the editors of the New York Sun in 1897, written by a young girl asking them to confirm whether Santa Claus is real. The annual "radio play" at the Winnipesaukee Playhouse in Meredith, New Hampshire is always one of my favorite productions.

This year the Winni Players Community Theatre staged "Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus." The Winni stage is set up as an old-fashioned radio studio with actors seated in a circle, stepping forward to microphones to read from a script as required. Behind them is the control room, and the sound effects man, called a foley artist in the trade, is over to the left with all the equipment he needs to produce the sounds called for.

An Irish immigrant, James O'Hanlon, is out of work, his 8-year-old daughter Virginia's friends are saying there's no Santa Claus, and Christmas isn't promising to be a happy time for the family. I'm not sure what's fact and what's fiction in this play, but Frank Church is described by his editor, Ed Mitchell, as one of the greatest newspapermen his paper, or any other, has known. But Church's wife and newborn daughter have died and in his grief he has taken to drink and has barely been saved from suicide by Mitchell, who has an "important assignment" for him.

This important assignment is to write an editorial in answer to Virginia O'Hanlon's question about the existence of Santa Claus, because her father, James, told her "if it's in the Sun, it's true." At first, Church thinks this must be a joke, but he rises to the task. His editorial, unsigned, ran on Page 1 of the Sun, and now, more than one hundred years later, it's one of the best-known editorials ever written.

Margaret Lundberg directed this presentation and selected the music, Liz Rohdenburg designed the costumes and Winni artistic director Neil Pankhurst was the sound and lighting designer. Virginia was played by Laconia High School freshman Morgan Mitchell, Dave Rogers appeared as Frank Church and other characters, Pat Kelly was Sun editor Ed Mitchell and other characters. The rest of the cast was rounded out by Kelly Bennett, Lore Briere, Sam Ducharme, Stephen Hird and Mary Rogers. Michael G. Baker was the foley artist, Jim Gocha the announcer. If my count is correct, eight actors played a total of forty-two characters. Quite an achievement!

My holiday spirit needed a jump start after a year and a half of isolation. Thank you, Winni Players, for restoring my hope for a better future with this excellent, heart-warming production. A Google search will find dozens of copies of the complete text of Church's editorial. I hope I'm not violating any copyright laws by including my favorite paragraph here:

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.
—Francis Pharcellus Church

"Frankenstein"

November 7, 2021 — It was March 1, 2020 when I last attended a play at the Players' Ring. We had all heard about this COVID-19 epidemic that allegedly originated in China. A few cases had been reported around the world, including in the U.S. But none of us believed at the time this would be a major threat to us, especially in America. How naïve we were!

One and a half years later I've returned to the Ring, a small, rustic theater in a 19th Century brick building in the historic Portsmouth, New Hampshire waterfront. Life is getting somewhat back to normal, with indoor theater performances returning, but with precautions. At the Ring and other theaters, face masks are required and the Ring demands proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID test.

I was here to see their latest offering, "Frankenstein," adapted and directed by Bretton Reis, not from the many movie productions, none of which are faithful to Mary Wallstonecraft Shelley's original 1818 novel she began in her teens (complete title: Frankenstein or the Modern Prometheus). Of course, there's no way Shelley's sprawling novel can be condensed into a 90-minute play, but Reis concentrated on character development, emotions, love, grief, and yes, madness. That's not to say the play is lacking in horror. More about that in a minute.

The play was reportedly fast-tracked in just six weeks from Reis's creation of the adaptation to rehearsals and live production. It's astonishing such a polished presentation was achieved in such a short time. Much credit has to go to stage management, led by Jessica Michaud, lighting and scenic design by Reis himself, and props and makeup by Ben Bagley. Costumes were by Jen Towle. Don Goettler and Josh Millar did the carpentry. Music selections were by MYUU and Loyalty Freak Music. The Ring extends special thanks to Kathryn and Tim Mone, Katie Juster and PPMTV.

The Players' Ring seats just 75 on three sides of a small square stage below audience level. This is an extremely intimate space shared by actors and audience. The precisely targeted lighting and ominous music, sometimes accompanied by screams, produced gasps from the startled audience many times. When the stage went black, it was really black, completely hiding quick scenery and prop changes.

Michael Onofaro appeared as Victor Frankenstein, with Christian Arnold as his creation, the monster. Their highly charged performances at times nearly crossed the line into camp. That's not a criticism. It was appropriate for this play. Branwyn Ritchie was Victor's love interest, enchanting but her soft voice caused me to miss some of her dialog. Christopher Savage played Alphonse, Victor's father, his effortlessly powerful voice the strongest of the cast. Fifth grader Michael Mone as Victor's younger brother proved to be a seasoned actor for his young age. Griffin Gower handled the dual roles of Waldman and Felix. Jordan Formichelli also played her two parts brilliantly, Agatha and, at the end, the doomed mate created for the monster.

Driving home after dark, I was sure I saw Frankenstein's monster staring at me through the windshield.

Extinct Car Day

October 24, 2021 — I ended my 2021 car show season with my second trip to the Larz Anderson Auto Museum in Brookline, Massachusetts. They were having their annual Extinct Car Day on the museum's lawn, featuring cars no longer manufactured, although there were also many present that are still very much alive and well. There were many Oldsmobiles at the show, a car with a rich history dating back to 1897, unfortunately dropped by General Motors when it could no longer meet sales goals. Studebakers were also plentiful, their parent company founded before the Civil War as a wagon maker.

As always, I checked inside the museum to see if there were any new acquisitions since my last visit, and indeed there were, most notably a 1954 Humber Super Snipe. You'll find it along with many other great cars of the past at:

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/extinct2021/

Antique Vehicle Meet & Tour

October 16, 2021 — This annual show by the Antique Automobile Club of America, canceled last year like so many others because of the pandemic, returned this year with a large collection of show-quality antique vehicles. It's often the final show of the season, but this year there would be one more show the following weekend, at least for me.

Held at the Tyngsboro-Dunstable Historical Society's Little Red School House and Field in Dunstable, Massachusetts, often in jacket weather this late in the season, it was unseasonably warm on this day, another in a warmer-than-average October. You can view my pictorial coverage of the event at this link:

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/beanpot2021/

Battle for the Airfield

October 10, 2021 — It was the third event I attended at the American Heritage Museum in Hudson, Massachusetts, this season. This realistically staged reenactment of a tank battle between Allied and Axis forces in World War II raged back and forth over a large field behind the three exhibits that make up the Collings Foundation complex, the Heritage Museum, Historic Aircraft and Classic Car Barn, all open during this two-day event.

Before the battle, the Allied and Axis encampments are widely separated at opposite ends of the field. Each side has a collection of authentic tanks, cannons, small arms and memorabilia from the WW II era. We could explore each camp until they cleared the field of spectators to prepare for each battle. There were two battles a day. Reenactors and other experts, in the authentic uniforms of their nations, were happy to answer questions about their vehicles, weaponry and history.

The battle was realistic. Explosions were loud and ear plugs were recommended and for sale at the event. Prior to each battle, an honor guard marched out, there was a brief ceremony, and an announcer gave an encapsulated history of the war. The announcer narrated the action throughout the battle which took about 45 minutes. Between battles, there was a roundtable in a tent with seating for an audience where two WW II veterans recounted their experiences in the war.

Videos and photos of the event can be seen at this link, but they hardly do it justice. You have to be there. Watch for it next year.

https://www.linwoodstreet.com/airfieldbattle/