Spokane Civic Theatre brings holiday classic, ‘Rudolph,’ to life in new musical adaptation

In years past, winter has brought many holiday stories to Spokane Civic Theatre’s stage. From classics like “White Christmas” and “A Christmas Carol” to more modern favorites like “A Christmas Story” and “A Sherlock Carol,” many have made seeing Civic’s winter show part of their holiday traditions.

This year, Civic brings a new story to its stage with “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” The story of Rudolph isn’t new, of course, but the musical only became available for licensing in 2020.

“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” opens Friday and runs through Dec. 21 at Spokane Civic Theatre.

The story begins when Rudolph (Connie Mack Overstreet) is born with a glowing red nose. Rudolph’s father Donner (John Jacob Bernal, who also plays Boss Elf) uses a fake nose to cover Rudolph’s nose so the other reindeers accept him.

The fake nose works for awhile, but while participating in the Reindeer Games, the fake nose falls off after Rudolph celebrates being called cute by a doe named Clarice (Eden Day). The others make fun of Rudolph’s nose, leading Coach Comet (Reuben Erlinso) to expel him.

Now on his own, Rudolph eventually meets an elf named Hermey (Jack Rodewald), who dreams of becoming a dentist, and Yukon Cornelius (Aaron Robertson), a prospector in search of silver and gold. Eventually, the trio ends up on the Island of Misfit Toys where King Moonracer (Ed Bryan, who also plays Clarice’s father) brings toys in need of a home.

As he grows, challenging situations put Rudolph, and his glowing red nose, to the test.

The musical features a script adapted by Robert Penola and music and lyrics by Johnny Marks. It follows the story told in an animated TV special, which was based on the song by Marks, which was based on a poem by Robert L. May, Marks’s brother-in-law.

Director and choreographer Kathie Doyle-Lipe is no stranger to a holiday production, having previously directed productions of “Elf the Musical” and “A Christmas Story.” Saying “yes” to “Rudolph” was an easy decision for Doyle-Lipe, as she enjoys the joy of holiday shows.

Wanting her production to stay true to the beloved TV special, Doyle-Lipe watched the special five or six times before production and one or two times during, just to double-check details.

“I’d say 90% of the dialog is identical,” she said. “We can’t capture some of the magic they do, but we’ll capture it in our own stage way … You put real people in those roles, and you’re going to have a whole new dimension.”

Doyle-Lipe initially thought a lot of adults would audition for the elf parts but found herself casting children and teens as elves, saying they’ve taken on the roles with no inhibitions.

The actors playing the elves will be dressed quite similarly to the elves in the claymation special, as will the actor playing Santa Claus. The actors playing reindeer will, of course, be decked out in deer costumes, with Overstreet’s featuring a bright red nose.

Bumble the Abominable Snow Monster requires a bit more of that stage magic Doyle-Lipe was talking about. The character will be portrayed as a puppet built and operated by a local family, which Doyle-Lipe is sure is going to get a great audience reaction.

“It’s stunning,” she said. “It’s going to be one of the highlights.”

The Civic show also stars William Pipinich, Adam Bingham, Marty Kittelson, Trudy Rogers, Nicholas Ewing, Harper Drake, Evie Durbin, Eldrek Koenig, Sienna Miller-Thomas, Paloma Partovi, Lucy Robertson, Darby Shuster, Jasmine Speer, Madison Sperry, Adilein Tau and Isabelle Williams.

The show is music directed by Presley Dupuis and co-choreographed by Jillian Kehne.

As “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” takes the lead character from the North Pole to Bumble’s cave to the Island of Misfit Toys and back again, another element of stage magic comes with making sure the various sets this show requires fit onstage.

For that, Doyle-Lipe called on scenic designer Peter Rossing. Doyle-Lipe said Rossing has created set pieces that work like a jigsaw puzzle, with actors rearranging pieces of the puzzle as needed. There are nine pieces to the puzzle, with Doyle-Lipe saying four or five of the pieces are onstage and being manipulated at a time.

There’s a beauty to locations like Christmastown and the toy room and elements like snow-covered trees that is contrasted with the icy, sharp angles to locations like Bumble’s cave.

There are some sharper moments in the dialogue when the other reindeer tease Rudolph because of his red nose, but Doyle-Lipe said the younger actors find those moments a little fun, because they’re not really bullying one another.

“Remembering your line, and what set you bring out and who you help over here,” she said. “They’ve all been just great about it.”

Doyle-Lipe has been working on holiday shows since, as she measures it, her grandchildren were young. Now, they’ve grown and are bringing friends to see her shows. She loves seeing families in the audience, but especially young children.

She’s already anticipating hearing little voices sing along while the cast perform “Rudolph” classics like “We are Santa’s Elves,” “Silver and Gold,” “A Holly Jolly Christmas” and the title song.

“I like seeing the kids’ faces glow,” she said. “The young ones who it’s all so magical (for). It’s part of the whole holiday theme of joy and magic and caring and laughing.”