Timpanogos Valley Theatre will host “Miracle on 34th Street: A Live Radio Play” in its Heber City playhouse Dec. 12-20. Consider it a trip inside a voice actors studio.
“The audience is situated as the live studio audience for a radio production,” said director David Burrow. “The stage is set up as a sound studio at a radio station centered in the 1940s, so we have stand mics set up, we have a live sound effect folding table on part of the stage, and we have actors who are dressed up as if they’re coming to work at a radio station.”
When one soused Santa Claus loses his Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade job, Kris Kringle, voiced by Gary Harter, steps into the open slot. His convincing portrayal prompts further bookings at the retail powerhouse until Kringle’s claims of being the actual Santa Claus lead to his institutionalization.
A court case to determine his authenticity hinges on the letter of a young girl, Susan Walker, voiced by Lyla Charlesworth, and raises questions about the natures of belief and reality. Lance Arthur Smith adapted the script from the 1947 radio performance, and John Lorenz wrote the original songs and arrangements. The play is one hour and 45 minutes with an intermission.
Timpanogos Valley Theatre’s radio play tradition began in 2021. Burrow acted in its first two productions and is now in his third year as director with “It’s A Wonderful Life” and “A Christmas Carol” already on his resume.
“When we style these plays as 1940s radio plays, we benefit from the expectations that people have of that,” Burrow said. “That includes things like, those shows were done while people were reading scripts on a microphone. Those radio plays turned over fast enough that there just wasn’t an expectation that they’d have them memorized. It also reduces demand on the actors and production staff, which lets people enjoy their holiday in lots of ways.”
True to the genre’s constraints, many of the actors perform multiple roles. Roy Buttermore voices store owner R.H. Macy along with the head of Macy’s toy department, a priest and the drunken Santa.
“They get to use different voices to depict different people and adjust their delivery to help make that difference,” Burrow said. “We’re not having scene changes where we change the set and have actors going on and off the stage changing costumes. It’s very much about vocal presentation and about physical presence to differentiate those things.”
Practical sound effects provide orientation clues the actors cannot convey with their voices. Easton Ray and Amelia Burrow are the foley operators in charge of these sleights of ear.
“We have a small door that we use for doors opening. We make car noises using mouthpieces of various brass instruments. In the past, we’ve needed a wind machine. We use balloons or toolboxes to make creaking noises. That’s all done right there in front of the audience that gets to be part of their experience,” Burrow said.
“Miracle on 34th Street: A Live Radio Play” is more of a musical script than previous productions, and Jessica Thierault’s music direction also includes ad jingles within the context of the radio play. Tupperware and toilet cake ads are era-specific, while local businesses can still contact Timpanogos Valley Theatre and purchase custom jingles to appear in the performance.
“We will write lyrics and check them with the business and turn that into an ad,” Burrow said.
Burrow finds contemporary resonance in the themes “Miracle on 34th Street” explores, even decades after its release.
“The messages and questions of this production about belief versus cynicism, wonder versus pragmatism, about community and human connection are super timely given the environment that we’re all living in right now,” Burrow said. “Those are common messages in these Christmas-themed plays, and I love getting to put on plays that ask questions about how do we have the most meaningful life and how do we find joy in life when there’s a lot of things that can make that hard.”
Tickets are available at timpvalleytheatre.com.