Miracle or coincidence? In Theatre in the X’s holiday production, it’s all in how you look at it

Back around Philadelphia playwright Richard LaMonte Pierce took a good look at the Philadelphia theater scene in December and noticed the obvious A Christmas Carol or Nutcracker on every stage All classic audience builders but Pierce thought something was missing We need one he advised his colleagues at the Bushfire Theatre of Performing Arts in West Philadelphia That s why I wrote Ordinary People Extraordinary People because I demanded to have that same Christmas feeling but I required to view it from how Black people saw Christmas Ordinary People Extraordinary People joins a December Philly theater lineup just the way Pierce described it years ago Christmas Carols aplenty with a Nutcracker or two or three on area stages The play is being presented by Theatre in the X a theater company that puts on summer plays in West Philadelphia s Malcolm X Park just blocks away from the Bushfire theater building In a twist it will stage Ordinary People which is set in North Philadelphia in a South Philly theater Pierce s play asks a very Christmas-y question If Jesus revealed up currently not accompanied by angels or trumpets but as an ordinary man maybe even a homeless man would we accept him or dismiss him Courtesy of Theatre in the X In the play good things begin to happen to a family that invites J C a homeless man wandering the cold streets of North Philadelphia in winter into their apartment for a cup of hot chocolate Are they miracles or are they coincidences Pierce lives in North Philadelphia now near Temple and grew up blocks away on a street just like the one where the play is set in His aunt who lived down the block ran two kinds of salons in her house one styled the hair of singers Billie Holiday Pearl Bailey and Sarah Vaughan It s kind of semi-autobiographical he noted For example Pierce mentioned his grandfather worked for a construction company owned by Angelo Bruno the onetime Mafia kingpin in Philadelphia Bruno Pierce noted set his grandfather up in the numbers-running business In the play someone wants to set Freddy the father up in business but he doesn t want to get involved with the Mob In the play times were tough so much so that buying a Christmas tree was out of the question Then one day when Freddy was outside a truck carrying Christmas trees hit a pothole and a tree fell off Miracle or coincidence Pierce now didn t ask himself that question when it happened to him and his friends when they were young men One of his friends had money his mother had given him to buy a tree but we drank and smoked up the money Pierce announced Worried they were walking to the friend s house to face the consequences when lo and behold a truck carrying Christmas trees hit a pothole and a tree fell off It was a coincidence Pierce declared As we get older Pierce reported we become cynical like the grownups in his play In a way writing was like therapy for me bringing me back to my childhood I channeled that Ordinary People Extraordinary People Dec - Theatre in the X atTheatre Exile S th St Phila Pay what you can Here are particular other holiday shows on stage in the city this year Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol As charming as the Dickens classic is certain of the underlying themes of death and ghosts might be scary for little ones But the Walnut Street Theatre For Kids presents an hour-long musical adaptation geared for children that uses traditional songs to tell the story Dec - Walnut Street Theatre Walnut St Phila - - One Man Nutcracker Greater part productions of The Nutcracker ballet require dozens of dancers but Chris Davis is tutu efficient for that He dances every part from the daughter Marie to the creepy Uncle Drosselmeyer and of curriculum both the mice and the Sugar Plum Fairy It keeps him on his toes Dec -Jan Proscenium Theatre at the Drake S Hicks St Phila Tickets via Eventbrite Charles Dicken s A Christmas Carol Inspired by a radio production he heard as a child actor Anthony Lawton presents a riveting one-man adaptation of this annual favorite The stage set is simple but the drama is anything but Dec - Lantern Theater Co at St Stephen s Theater Ludlow St Phila - - Cirque Dreams Holidaze is in town Dec - at the Miller Theater Cirque Dreams Holidaze The Cirque du Soleil group uses its acrobats aerialists jugglers and circus artists to create a fantastical holiday world for a young girl Dec - from The Shubert Organization and Ensemble Arts Philly Miller Theater S Broad St Phila - - A Christmas Story The Musical Ralphie wants a Red Ryder BB gun but somehow a kooky leg lamp pink bunny pajamas and a cranky department store Santa interfere The cast includes mischievous dogs Through Jan Walnut Street Theatre Walnut St Phila - - Outside the city The Nice List Dec - Bristol Riverside Theatre Radcliffe St Bristol - - Elf The Musical through Jan Bucks County Playhouse S Main St New Hope - - A Christmas Carol through Jan People s Light Conestoga Rd Malvern - - Meredith Willson s Miracle on th Street Dec - The Playhouse on Rodney Square located in the Hotel du Pont N Territory St Wilmington The post Miracle or coincidence In Theatre in the X s holiday production it s all in how you look at it appeared first on Billy Penn at WHYY