TH EATER
BY ANNA GRACE
CHRISTMAS MAGIC
ACE conjures up Christmas: The Most
Wonderful Time of the Year
I
bang through the heavy wooden doors of the Actors
Cabaret of Eugene, ten minutes late and anxious to
escape the rain and noise of Willamette Street. But
two steps in the door and I am immobilized, dripping
a small pool of water in the entrance. Actors Cabaret
has been transformed for their upcoming, original
production Christmas: The Most Wonderful Time of the
Year. Every inch of space is adorned with Christmas decora-
tions, the stage festooned, the hallway decked. I’ve entered
a magical Christmas land and can feel my heart swelling up
like the Grinch’s at the sound of Whoville singing.
The architect of this Christmas-tasia, ACE director Joe
Zingo, sits with a petite, smiling Lydia Lord, who may
actually have a little elf blood. Their mismatched scripts
lay open before them, a mess of notes, crossed out
passages and inserted song breaks. Zingo and Lord are
co-writing a play, and from the looks of it, working
together really has been the most wonderful time.
The decision to work together was a bit unorthodox, with
Zingo announcing the co-written play in press materials
before actually confirming with Lord that she was in on the
project. “Well she didn’t say she wasn’t going to do it!” Zingo
defends himself with a smile. Lord rolls her eyes, but admits
that she is delighted, “I’m really glad I said … whatever it
was I said that gave him the indication that I meant yes.”
The idea to create their own show came out of the frustra-
tion of reading holiday scripts. A good Christmas play is hard
to come by. “It’s not a matter of having a hard time finding a
good Christmas script,” Zingo says. “There are no good
CAST OF ACE’S CHRISTMAS: THE MOST WONDERFIL TIME OF THE YEAR
Christmas scripts.” He’s right. Yet there are always good
Christmas audiences. People who want to celebrate the sea-
son in the community with others, who hope to provide holi-
day traditions that sit outside the buying-and-getting box.
According to Lord, “Audiences are looking for that wonder-
ful bubbling-up-inside feeling we felt when we were chil-
dren.” Zingo agrees, “People want to stop being Scrooges.”
The play is structured within the format that ACE does
so well; big musical numbers and moving vignettes. It
includes bits from at least 70 songs, from traditional carols
to modern pieces, silly songs, sing-a-longs, emotional
pieces and two of Lord’s original pieces including one
entitled “Christmas in Eugene.” Lord also crafted the med-
leys necessary to fit 70 songs into a 90-minute show. “No
one is better at taking songs and weaving them together
than Lydia,” Zingo asserts. “She is a master.”
The music is interspersed with Zingo’s original
monologues that run from humorous to heart-wrenching,
as the play addresses more than just the delights of the
season. “We recognize that Christmas is a very difficult
time for some,” Zingo says. The show looks at how
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Christmas changes for us as we age, that for some parents
the Christmas to-do list is so long they can barely enjoy the
season, and other parents who do not even have the
resources to provide their children with a home.
Zingo seems particularly concerned with commercial-
ism, and how it has taken over the season. “For some
people, Christmas starts with sales, and ends with sales.
That’s how they know it’s Christmas.”
But the play is by no means dark. “Joe is obsessed with
it being entertaining!” Lord says. Coming in well under
two hours, the play is completely child-friendly. You can
bring your family for dinner or just order drinks and des-
sert at intermission.
Currently the play is being considered for publication.
And while seeing her work live on would be exciting, it is
not Lord’s primary motivation. “I would like to send peo-
ple out into the season with lots of warm, loving feelings.”
I know that’s how I felt upon leaving ACE that
morning. Q
November 29, 2012 • eugeneweekly.com
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