theatre review- MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET- The Palms Theatre - Nov 30

Click here to read my complete review (highlights below) at TalkinBroadway.com

Jim Coates and CastPhoto: Mike Benedetto / The Palms Theatre

"Adapting a popular film for the stage can result in a theatrical endeavor that adds new layers to the film property or a misfire where the stage version adds nothing, or even detracts from, the movie. It's a shame that the musical stage version of Miracle on 34th Street results in nothing more than the film plot on stage with a score that is adequate at best. The feel-good themes of the movie still come across, and the Palms Theatre production has a charming cast, colorful sets and costumes, and a winning small orchestra, yet Meredith Willson's score features only one memorable tune and that's a song he wrote many years before he wrote the score for this show....The Palms cast is adequate with Jocelyn Kleinman a winner as Susan. She has excellent line delivery and facial expressions, and perfectly gets across the role of this young cynical girl. Janine Smith is also effective as Doris, with the right amount of mistrust portrayed in her body language and vocal inflections. She has a lovely singing voice, too. Kleinman and Smith also make a realistic mother/daughter duo. Danny Karapetian is fine as Fred, it's just a shame the part is so woodenly written, though he does have a nice bit of business in the second act courtroom scenes. As Kris, Jim Coates is appropriately charming and jolly.
...Director Victor Legarreta manages to move the plot along swiftly and get effective performances from his cast, though he should have pulled his actors in a bit as some of them overact and a couple of them chew the scenery a bit too much just to get an unnecessary laugh. Tia Hawkes' costumes are lovely and colorful, and the scenic design (on loan from another production, I believe, since no credit is given in the production) is quite elaborate and works well on the small Palms stage....
While Miracle on 34th Street may not be the greatest way to spend the holidays, the plot, characters and themes are still heart-warming. The Palms facility is decorated nicely for the holidays, the buffet style food is fairly good, and while you may not come out singing any songs from the show you will most likely still have an enjoyable time."