MRT makes Christmas magic with ‘Holly Fudge’
Trista Baldwin has always wanted to write a Christmas play and didn’t think twice when Merrimack Repertory Theatre artistic director Courtney Sale asked her to do that last year.
Her world premiere commission “The Rise and Fall of Holly Fudge” plays Nov. 26 through Dec. 12, marking MRT’S return to live performances in its Nancy L. Donahue Theatre home for the first time in 21 months.
“Courtney and the MRT commissioned me to write it last year during the pandemic to keep MRT’S new play initiative alive. It is more a Christmas play than a pandemic one despite being set last year,” Baldwin said last week by phone from her Seattle home.
The play is about Carol, a hard-working single mother who makes award-winning “Holly” fudge, named after her daughter. She serves it every holiday and gifts it to her friends and co-workers. She’s determined that this year won’t be any different, even if she must wear a mask while whipping up her famous fudge.
But she finds it tough to make this the most wonderful time of the year with Holly’s girlfriend crashing Christmas, her neighbor’s new-found love of confectionery and the protests erupting on her front lawn.
Writing it came easily to Baldwin, who has authored over 20 award-winning pieces and has worked with Sale before at Seattle Children’s Theatre.
“It’s about a mother-daughter relationship and also about the importance of friendship, especially during the pandemic, between Carol and her friend Chris,” Baldwin said.
Sale, who directs “Holly Fudge,” calls it a “lovingly crafted mother-daughter story that speaks to the wild uncertainty of one year ago and allows us big moments of laughter and release.”
Those big laughs are crucial, said Baldwin, who is coming to Lowell for early rehearsals and returns for the opening.
“I was hesitant to write a pandemic piece, so it isn’t pandemic-centric. But it felt so good to laugh — I knew we needed to do that, and so we are,” she said.
Ticket prices for live performances of “Holly Fudge” start at $21 and are available at 978654-4678 or www.mrt.org. A video-on-demand performance will be available from Dec. 16 to 26 for $21. Visit www.mrt.org/covid for MRT’S COVID policy. In the Wings
WEEKEND FUN » “The Rat Pack and Me,” a musical play conceived and directed by Jack Neary, with music direction by Tom Lamark and starring Carol O’shaughnessy, is on at 7 p.m. this Saturday at Club Café, Columbus Avenue at Berkeley Street, Boston. Look for music from Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr. in this music fest. Tickets $25 at www.clubcafe.com. … Peacock Players take a trip back to the ’80s in its laugh-filled musical comedy “The Wedding Singer” playing Nov. 12 through 21 at its 14 Court St., Nashua, N.H., home. Based on the hit Adam Sandler movie, it’s got love, romance and a score from the 1980s that will do for that decade what “Hairspray” did for the ’60s. Visit wwwpeacockplayers.org or call 603-8867000 for info and tickets. … Lyric Stage Company of Boston continues its return to live musical performances with “The Last Five Years” Nov. 12 through Dec. 12. The show is an emotionally powerful, intimate musical about two New Yorkers in their twenties who fall in and out of love over the course of five years. Its unconventional structure consists of Cathy telling her story backwards, while Jamie shares his tale chronologically. It is written and composed by Jason Robert Brown and directed by Boston theater veteran Leigh Barrett. Real-life married couple Jared and Kira Troilo star. Visit https://lyricstage.secure.force.com/ticket/ for tickets.
CANNON AUDITIONS » They’re back — Cannon Theatre, that is — and ready for auditions for their early March show. Young people, ages 8-20, are invited to audition for “Willy Wonka, The Musical” from 6 to 8:45 p.m. Nov. 20 at the LDS Church, 616 Great Road, Littleton. Some characters are already cast since plans were underway to produce the show when COVID struck in 2020. Visit www.thecannontheatre.org for details and COVID guidelines.
STORIES AND PICTURES » Get the inside scoop on some of the biggest concerts and celebrity events in Boston in the ’90s, when photographer Allan Dines takes center stage at 7 p.m. on Nov. 18 at the Regent Theatre in Arlington. He’ll dish the dirt, show off his iconic images and share stories behind them as told in his new book “Front
Row Center: How I Met Everyone.” He shot pics of Ted Kennedy, Tom Brady, Prince, BB King, and everyone in between. COVID guidelines include showing vaccine proof or a negative COVID test and a mask mandate for all inside the theater. For tickets, visit www.regenttheatre.com.