BLAME IT ON THE MISTLETOE Comes To Musical Theatre University

When most people think of drama schools, Julliard in New York, The Goodman in Chicago, and UCLA in Los Angeles spring to mind. But just a two hour drive from LA is Palm Springs, California, the home to Musical Theatre University (MTU), the ultimate arts training program for high school students.

From their website: (MTU is) the most intensive and comprehensive, pre-professional training ground in the performing arts for talented young people, grades 8 -13, from throughout the Coachella Valley and neighboring counties and communities. The Coachella Valley Campus is sponsored and presented by The Palm Springs Unified School District. MTU was founded in Orange County, California by David Green in 1999 and now is in residence at Rancho Mirage High School.

For years, all the theater-minded kids had a place to go, and a place to learn all of the basics and beyond, including performances at restaurants where the students that performed were also your servers because it's real life, and what performer hasn't worked in a damn restaurant? Where do you think the phrase "l'm waiting for my big break" came from?

In all seriousness, performing at any venue is gaining much needed experience, and the shows MTU was mounting at Acqua California Bistro were a lot of fun, and a big hit with locals.

And then the pandemic happened. No school, no theater, no restaurants, and the ambitious, but on-track plan to mount a brand new musical on Broadway was shelved.

And that's when David Green, Founder and Executive/Artistic Director of MTU, had a big idea: put on variety shows with the kids and air them on a local channel. And that's what he did.

Front Row Center, a televised half-hour musical show featuring students from PSUSD's four high schools, ran for 24 weeks on the local ABC affiliate in 2020.

When 2021 rolled around, things were a little less restricted, but MTU's usual holiday show would still be compromised by everything Covid, so Green needed a new plan.

The previous year's foray into TV got Green thinking about a feature film: an original teen musical, with a couple of romantic leads, some comedy, a plot (or ten), at least one mean girl, a couple of smart ass sidekicks - oh, and wouldn't it be great if they could get cameos by local stars? Green didn't have that musical in his hip pocket, so he sat down and wrote it. He wrote the book, and the lyrics to 16 songs with frequent collaborator David Nehls providing the music for what would be called Blame It On The Mistletoe.

The film is a fantastic exercise for the kids who shot it in just four weeks in and around Palm Springs. It has all the fun and all the plot twists. There is no mistletoe left dangling, it all comes to fruition in the end, all wrapped up like the Christmas present it is.

Green asked that I not review the film because "it was just a learning exercise", a "teaching moment". But I will argue his reasoning with this: it was 160 minutes long and I didn't look at my watch once. I was entertained and impressed.

Does it look like a big budget film? No. It cost $20K to make and even when you call in all the favors, you're not going to get White Christmas. But it is better than, clutch your pearls Lifetime girls, better than a lot of the repetitive Lifetime holiday tripe playing back to back on your TV during the season.

There really wasn't a red-carpet, but the cast was mingling in their finest red-carpet attire before taking their seats in the front row. Their excitement was palpable and made for an exceptionally special evening.

Don Amendolia and Marsha Waterbury did a delightful turn as the grandparents that own and operate the local restaurant where the kids perform. And the cameos were a blast from the past: Lucie Arnaz as a drunk flower shop owner; Jim J. Bullock as the over-medicated dry cleaner, Lindsay Wagner in a fun turn as the high school's principal, and a hilarious Alix Kory as a hard-nosed ER nurse.

Other cameos were provided by Lorna Luft, Joyce Builfant, Ruta Lee and local drag queen star Bella da Ball.

The movie will play locally at The Mary Pickford Theatre in Cathedral City and The Tristone 10 Theatres in Palm Desert before moving to Broadway World On Demand beginning December 19th for a one-week run. Proceeds will support arts education.

To watch: Blame It On The Mistletoe a production of MTU and PSUSD.

To learn more about Musical Theatre University, visit musicaltheatreuniversity.com.

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