Author: Tom Williams

as so many of the great stories are, The Nutcracker is also prone to reinvention, which is what the House Theatre has done here. The storytelling is infectious. A happy equilibrium is struck between straight acting, sheer exuberance, and clever winking at the audience. To call this a children’s show would miss the point; to call it a Christmas show would too, although to a lesser extent. It is, after all, about saving Christmas. But more than anything it’s a good time, and certainly gets you in the mood for what can otherwise be a soul-crushing shopfest that has now started to infest even Halloween.

The script is at once serious yet playful, superficial yet deep. Depression, suicide, and deadly disease sit next to the dalliance of drugs and frat-boy pranks. It’s the combination that Adam Rapp balances so well that makes this piece what it is. And Mary-Arrchie Theatre brings a smart interpretation of the text with strong actors that make this a piece really worth watching.

This is a slick journey through the roots of both vaudeville and the African-American musical experience…that explains Black history from 1830 to 1930 with emphasis on the Great Migration Era of 1910-1930, Keep A Song In Your Soul is a tuneful expose on American country, blue grass, work songs & chants, gospel, ragtime and jazz styles that shaped 20th Century vaudeville shows.