BWW Reviews: The Gaslight's TWO GUYS & A CHRISTMAS TREE

There's nothing better to usher in the holiday season than partaking of a delicious buffet, then following that up with a traditional variety show of tuneful memories of Christmases past! When the buffet and the entertainment represent the latest offering from the newly reinvigorated Gaslight Dinner Theatre at The Renaissance Center in Dickson? All the better, we say.

Two Guys and a Christmas Tree brings the holiday season to Dickson in the persons of Nick Fair, Michael J. Parker, Marilyn Whitehead Fair and Jenny Norris-Light, a quartet of capable actors and wonderful singers who provide a soundtrack for your seasonal celebrations in a sprightly holiday diversion directed by Greg Frey.

How wonderful is it that theater is alive and well at what is now Freed-Hardeman University's Dickson campus? The theaterati seem hardly to have missed a beat in the Renaissance Center's programming, with the Gaslight (under Frey's general management) and the Renaissance Players ensuring audiences are treated to high-spirited performances throughout the coming months.

Decorated in all its seasonal holiday finery, the Gaslight's second offering of its new incarnation features a paper-thin plot credited to Dennis and Holly Norton-McKeen that's silly and slight, but it's not so bad that you miss the real Christmas treat offered up by Frey's estimable cast of players: The music is wonderfully performed and will send you off with a song in your heart and a smile on your face.

The play's premise follows the various characters who move in and out of a family-owned Christmas tree lot in Tennessee, each offering their take on the season in brief sketches that connect the various songs. Frankly, I'd have preferred having the four performers gathered around a piano, singing and reminiscing about their own Christmas memories rather than the contrived, hokey plot points made by the writers.

Each of the exceptional performers is given their individual moments in the spotlight-Nick Fair opens the program with "We Need a Little Christmas" from Mame; his mom Marilyn Whitehead Fair initially shines in "Silver Bells"; Michael J. Parker performs a disarmingly distaff version of "Santa Baby"; and Jenny Norris-Light treats us to a beautiful "Silent Night" and "Let it Snow." Clearly, they're having a wonderful time, welcoming you into their holiday home with warmth and charm.

But, truth be told, the moments in Two Guys and a Christmas Tree that will really fill your heart with the true Christmas spirit will be when all four actors join their voices together to soar into the heavens, particularly on the absolutely awe-inspiring "Carol of the Bells"; the gospel-tinged fervor of "Go Tell It On The Mountain"; and the upbeat and raucously fun "Christmas Can-Can" that closes out the quickly moving show.

The script's flaws easily can be overlooked, the music is certain to leave you in a festive holiday mood, and the yummy holiday meal (which can honestly and sincerely be described as a groaning board of homecooked deliciousness) will leave you satisfied, yet somehow hungry for the next show at the Gaslight!

• Two Guys and a Christmas Tree. By Dennis and Holly Norton-McKeen. Directed by Greg Frey. Choreographed by Tosha Pendergrast. Music direction by Les Horne. Presented by The Gaslight Dinner Theatre, Dickson. Through December 20.

To post a comment, you must register and login.