Review: Get into the Holiday Spirit with A TAFFETA CHRISTMAS, at Broadway Rose

Get out your Christmas sweater, fill your glass with mulled wine, and let Broadway Rose's A TAFFETA CHRISTMAS get you into the spirit of the season. This 1950s musical revue has features all of your favorite Christmas tunes sung in gorgeous four-part harmony by Kira Batcheller, Stephanie K. Leppert, Natalie McClure, and Dru Rutledge, aka the Taffeta sisters.

A TAFFETA CHRISTMAS, by Rick Lewis, is a follow-up to his off-Broadway musical THE TAFFETAS, which is a 1950s musical revue featuring the four fictional sisters from Muncie, Indiana, who go on to form a touring singing group. In this show, they are returning to Muncie to star in an episode of the TV show "Hometown Hoedown." It's nostalgic, complete with live commercials and a few jokes. There is also some audience participation and a "Taffeta Chatter," in which the sisters answer questions from the audience (not really, though, the questions are scripted). But that's about it for the plot -- it is, after all, a revue.

That's all just a warning that you shouldn't go to this show expecting an engaging plot, conflict, or character development. You won't find any of that.

What you should go see it for is the music.

The music is mostly Christmas classics, including The Christmas Song and I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus. Between the medley that closes Act 1 and the medley that opens Act 2, every top 40 non-religious Christmas carol makes an appearance. Batcheller, Leppert, McClure, and Rutledge all have beautiful voices and they combine to fill the Broadway Rose New Stage with lush harmonies. As Dan Murphy writes in his director's notes, we don't often have the chance to hear this kind of music performed live in this way. If you're the type to put your favorite Christmas tunes on repeat starting the day after Thanksgiving, you're going to want to buy the album (disclaimer: I'm not sure if such album actually exists).

Overall, if you find plot a necessity for enjoying a night at the theatre, this might not be the show for you. But, if you love Christmas music or grew up listening to the girl groups of the 1950s, this is exactly the show to get you into the holiday spirit.

A TAFFETA CHRISTMAS runs through December 20 at Broadway Rose. For tickets, visit http://www.broadwayrose.org/

Photo credit: Craig Mitchelldyer

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