Newport holiday production gives stage a makeover
Santa Claus will not light up any cigars during “My Favorite Things,” the Newport Theatre Arts Center’s upcoming holiday production.
He will, however, carry out his toymaking operations in a cigar factory. Or at least a former one.
For the second year in a row, the Newport Beach theater is using for its holiday production the set of the show that came before it. The last regular offering this year was Nilo Cruz’s “Anna in the Tropics,” set in a Cuban-American cigar factory in the 1920s, and that workspace will convert into Santa’s workshop for the Christmas show.
That will mean removing some furniture and adding a few seasonal touches. But the show’s producers, Kelly Townsend and Katina Goshtasby, surmise that they could give just about any set a holiday makeover.
“Quite frankly, we can decorate anything,” Townsend said. “What we do all year is, we know this is coming. So every garage sale, every community garage sale, we’re there. And we have more decorations for Christmas than you could ever possibly imagine.”
The annual holiday production, now in its second year, arose from a conversation Townsend and Goshtasby had while sewing capes for the theater’s summer production. Both women, who had children in the cast, expressed regret about the lack of a similar program at the year’s end.
The producers hit upon the idea of a variety show, with a storyline serving as a frame around different acts by local artists. The 2013 show, which occupied the set of “Boeing Boeing,” told the story of a mouse family who lived inside a tree and tried to decorate their home so that Santa could find them.
For “My Favorite Things,” Townsend and Goshtasby concocted a story that may evoke comparisons to “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”: One lucky family is chosen for a tour of Santa’s workspace, with the heads of different toy factories around the world making up the rest of the guest list.
The actors who portray the factory heads represent different ethnic backgrounds in Orange County, with Relampago Del Cielo dancers standing in for Mexico, Orange County School of the Arts guitar and ballroom dancing teacher Vasil Chekardzhikov for Bulgaria, and so on.
The producers personally invited some of the performers to be in the show; others heard about it through Facebook or word of mouth and auditioned. Among those in the former group was Chekardzhikov, who met Townsend when her daughter took his dance class.
How did Chekardzhikov feel about being called upon to act? Optimistic might be the best word.
“I’ve been a kid in a play, so for me, it’s very interesting,” he said. “I wouldn’t call myself a veteran in the acting scene, so I’m a little stressed out. But for me, it’s a real adventure.”
The cast for “My Favorite Things” runs the gamut from adult actors to child actors to not-quite actors. The guest artists won’t be confined to the stage during the show: The theater will bring some of them into the lobby to dance or even serve food during intermission. (A holiday boutique will be offered as well.)
My Favorite Things” will run for three performances in the 90-seat venue, and while Townsend characterized the production as “9 million hours of work for three shows,” she and her partner are happy to put in the effort.
“This is definitely something that we do for the love of the art,” Goshtasby said. “And the love of this theater in particular.”
If You Go
What: “My Favorite Things”
Where: Newport Theatre Arts Center, 2501 Cliff Drive, Newport Beach
When: 7 p.m. Friday, 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday
Cost: $12
Information: (949) 631-0288 or https://www.ntaconline.com