Comet, the designated reindeer, encapsulates the point of “The Nice List,” a jauntily silly yet undeniably sensible Christmas musical having its world premiere at the Bristol Riverside Theatre through December 28.
In Alan Muraoka’s lively production, Comet is represented by a large puppet wrangled by Jennifer Barnhart, who also plays one of Santa Claus’ elves. She doesn’t quite steal the show — a sparkling cast of seven won’t let her — but she puts it in clear perspective because one minute Comet is winning you over with her empathy or luring you to her side with big doe eyes — what other kind would she have? — and the next she is moody, cantankerous, and in need of mollifying attention herself.
See. We’re all a little bit naughty and a little bit nice, and few us could be completely categorized by one list or the other.
I’m not giving away the moral of book writer-lyricist Phoebe Kreutz or composer Gary Adler’s story.
Well maybe I am, but I’m stating it because “The Nice List” creators come to it logically and intelligently while entertaining us, grandly, wending their way to a common-sense conclusion via oodles of comic or sardonic touches that range from incorrigibly obsessive elves to a Parisian Santa who has the angst and attitude of a world-weary philosophe.
As well as a comic French accent, complete with gravelly haw-haw-haw’s.
Kreutz, Adler, and Muraoka give us a show that can tickle a child with sprightly dances, corny jokes, and continuous merriment while giving adults reasons to appreciate the creative team’s inventiveness and wit.
As when the elves link arms and go balletic with a famous dance step from “The Nutcracker.” Or make a comment that might not be nice but indicates they know how the world works and what complicates its peace and efficiency.
The corny jokes, mostly simple riddles shared by elves competing to come up with groan-worthy punch lines, work with all ages. I’ve spent the week since I’ve seen “The Nice List” stealing them to make my listener’s eyes roll or elicit a light chuckle.
Light as it is in tone, and funny as it is by design, “The Nice List” is on to something worth exploring. Kreutz creates a lot of dilemmas, genuine and comic, to show how tetchy matters can be solved if people, or reindeer, can surrender some rigidity, examine a situation first-hand, see all the sides of it, and come to some reasonable deductions.
Everything seems to swing on a pendulum. Nice can turn to naughty in a hurry. Ambitious intentions can turn into bad decisions. Impressions can be false ones. Diligence can evolve into monomania.
“The Nice List” doesn’t go into these things deeply. It’s more of a lark than a lesson. But within its comedy, it touches on them thoughtfully, so the breezy reveals something about humanity and the ways it causes trouble.
Responsibilities and misconceptions lead people to go overboard, and they have to have some perspective restored.
Santa (Korie Lee Blossey) believes his surrogates in department stores and street corners throughout the world don’t express enough joy and spirit to keep Christmas festive and anticipated, so within days of taking to his sleigh, he leaves the North Pole to visit Santas internationally and give them a pep talk.
He leaves the North Pole in the hands of trusted assistant, the elf Chestnut (Aaron J. Albano), who thinks he can improve on Santa’s management and is part brown-noser and part usurper.
One task past deadline is the year’s Nice List of children who deserve the toys they desire. Chestnut assigns the catching-up to one elf, Gumdrop (Diana Huey), who agonizes over being consistently nice and another, Raisin (Michelle Dowdy), who is actually on Santa’s Naughty List and takes a cynical view of judging children’s behavior, the North Pole, and Santa in general.
Chestnut’s hubris, Gumdrop’s bout with perfection, Raisin’s outspokenness, and Comet’s moods are witnessed and commented on, by a sort of Greek chorus of elves who enjoy workplace gossip but dread workplace tension (Kennedy Kanagawa, Brad Weinstock, and Jennifer Barnhart), lead to trouble in Christmas City, and something’s got to give.
The comedy is the elves, Gumdrop and Chestnut in particular, going to extremes while the usually discontent Raisin and Comet become raisonneurs of sorts.
The overall confusion provides a lot of chances for theater fun. Kreutz’ script, as noted, accents the craziness in the principals’ behavior, the concern among the less involved elves, and Santa discovering more than about a world he annually flew over but never took the time to see or know.
It’s a clever book, at once warm and optimistic while wittily exposing foibles and gaining laughs from some sharp comic lines.
Kreutz’s lyrics are also clever, far from the cookie-cutter sentiments, used phrases, and elementary rhymes you hear in most new scores.
Gary Adler’s music is tuneful and filled with purposeful references to known holiday music, but like Kreutz’s lyrics, avoids the formulaic sound of most new music for the theater.
Alan Muraoka and his cast run with the quality material Kreutz and Adler give them.
Muraoka keeps things going at a brisk, peppy pace while giving characters the chance to establish themselves and show why they’re funny. His direction is filled with ideas that work to keep “The Nice List” sparkling while allowing some moments that show the conundrum of people being caught in a tradition, a habit, or task that drives them to comic distraction.
Diana Huey leads the way with her hilarious but scary portrayal of a woman so determined to do good, she causes concern among others who think she may be going too far.
Huey’s Gumdrop, in assembling the Nice List, goes from being forgiving and letting people off the hook for minor trespasses to demanding anyone deemed “Nice” is without the slightest flaw, blemish, or faux pas.
Her zeal whittles the Nice List to a total of 12, one of whom she accuses of an infraction, reducing the “Nice” to 11. Gumdrop is too gleeful in her strictness to see the disappointment and unhappiness it will cause. (It’s bittersweet to see Kanagawa portray a young girl who is pleased to have some peccadillo overlooked only to weep when Gumdrop rescinds her mercy.)
Huey is a dynamo who mines every aspect of Gumdrop’s character and can be charming one minute and frightening the next. Her evolution from something wary of offending to a scourge of the Naughty is a joy to behold, even when Gumdrop’s Puritanism catapults out of control and threatens the joy of multitudes.
Michelle Dowdy is all sincerity as Raisin, the elf who doesn’t buy into all Santa and the North Pole purport to be. She often laughs at accepted lore and scoffs at traditions her fellow elves regard as sacrosanct.
It’s enjoyable to watch Dowdy go from being the rebel among characters to the one who sees the biggest picture and has the biggest capacity for being human.
During a preview performance, Dowdy injured her ankle. On opening night, she carried a cane and limped visibly. Muraoka has found clever ways for her to come on stage, such as riding in on rolling platforms that will later be used for desk or other office furniture.
Dowdy seems to be enjoying her character and brings out all of the common sense that goes into her non-conformity and fairer regard to others.
Korie Lee Blossey is a warm Santa whose worries upset you and whose discoveries delight. Blossey not only plays Santa well but has a deep, mellifluous voice that becomes more lovely and commanding when he sings. His song, “Santa’s Lament,” is particularly effective.
Kennedy Kanagawa obviously relishes being an elf. His movements are more enthusiastic and his knees are lifted higher those of his excellent peers. “The Nice List” is the third show in which I’ve seen Kanagawa, and he always brings smart energy to the stage. Even when leaving his character, Marzipan, behind to play the sullen girl Gumdrop won’t forgive or the vaudeville French Santa with all the Gallic touches.
Brad Weinstock is amusing as the macho elf from a tough neighborhood, New Yawk accent and all. Jennifer Barnhart is a delight as an elf, Cookie, and the handler of Comet.
Aaron J. Albano gets scarier and scarier as the supervisor bent on proving he’s the best manager ever.
Kreutz and Adler have written a good score that has zest, lyrics that smack of bygone discipline, and that naughty/nice dichotomy that informs the entire show. “At Christmastime,” “Nice,” “They’re All Naughty,” and “Nobody’s Perfect” stand out for various reasons, but all of the songs and their performance hit a high mark.
Kreutz and Adler have been on my radar for a while. About seven years ago, another of their musicals, “A New World,” done at New Hope’s Bucks County Playhouse, ranked as the funniest and most refreshing new work I’d seen in years (or since). It was a loopy romance that recalled the screwball plots of 1940s movies and featured hilarious dialogue and lyrics. Alas, it was deemed controversial in some aspects and was left on the shelf. Kreutz and Adler, in conversation, told me it also had some structural problems they’d like to fix. Controversy and structure be dashed, especially the former. If I ever win a lottery, I’m producing “A New World.”
Dahlia Al-Habieli’s set was a glittery pastel that made a nice frame for “The Nice List.” Brian C. Hemesath’s costume accented the fun of Muraoka’s production (even if I worried Kennedy Kanagawa was going to trip over the pom-poms on his boots). Joe Doran and Ryk Lewis did well on lighting and sound. Kylie Clark could not have designed a more adorable Comet.
The Nice List, Bristol Riverside Theatre, 120 Radcliffe Street, Bristol, Pennsylvania. Through Sunday, December 28. Check online for the schedule. $73 to $83. www.brtstage.org or 215-785-0100.
