Miracle on 34th Street Review

by Saitta Roy

The Theatre Department here at Newfield have been hard at work putting together the fall play, Miracle of 34th Street, since the first day of school. After months of rehearsal and preparation, the Newfield community was able to buy their tickets to see the merry production. The excitement among the cast and crew could be felt when walking through the backstage preparations, with everyone strapping into costume and helping braid each other's hair for wigs. The students of the drama department were very self-sufficient and did not need their director Ms. Joan Meichner hovering over them; she had bigger fish to fry.

Outside the auditorium, there were students and parents hard at work selling concessions. Something noteworthy was the dozens of donuts being sold. These donuts were a donation from Duck Donuts, they gave us 6 dozen donuts per performance, free of charge. Meaning all profits went to the benefit of students!

The show opened with a projected scene of bustling New York on Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade day. Many backgrounds in this play were projected in this manner, an effective mode of background design. Our lead characters were Doris Walker, played by Leah Landron; Fred Gayley, played by Alexander Yagud-Wolek; and Kris Kringle, played by Ezekiel Smith. Smith’s character had the job of replacing a drunk mall Santa. Drunk Santa, who was played by Payton Astromovich. To do his character justice, Astromovich took courage in free-falling backward to portray a comedic level of intoxication.

The set design for Santa’s Mall station was immaculate. It had four grand pillars in the back with jumbo tree ornaments on top, two fully decorated Christmas trees, prop gifts, Christmas lights, and a big chair in the middle for Santa. It was the best set design of the show, with the courtroom as a very close runner-up.

Sean Campbell’s performance as Sawyer, a work psychologist who is feral about getting Kris Kringle into a mental hospital, was by far the funniest aspect of the show. His tone of voice and body language was unmatched, and he even improved a few lines. Such as telling Kris Kringle he was taking him to Taco Bell.

Aside from the comedic value of the show, there was a lot of vocal talent being displayed. To keep the crowd entertained during scene changes, there were small ensembles that sang various Christmas songs in front of the closed curtain. The most chilling number was the performance of "Mary, Did You Know.