“Candy Cane Chaos” – A Treat for the Young and the Young-at-Heart

There’s no better way to start off the Holiday season (if you haven’t already) than singing Christmas carols and watching a cute play with Santa and his elves. Stage West’s play “Candy Cane Chaos” fits the bill to a “C.”

An original play written by long-time Stage West member Michelle Root, the story revolves around a crisis in Santa’s workshop. Santa is missing and Mrs. Claus (played by Cassidy Stevenson) is running the show. During the first act she goes from bubbly optimistic to frantic, exclaiming all the time, “Oh, my shooting stars!”

Unlike most plays featuring Santa and his helpers, “Candy Cane Chaos” depicts an “equal opportunity” workshop. Instead of diminutive little men in red suits and peaked hats with squeaky high-pitched voices, the elves in this play are predominantly female of all ages and personalities.

Three elves stand out in the story. One is Norman, a hapless elf who can’t seem to do anything right. He sings off-key and, horror of horrors, makes candy canes that have no stripes−what Mrs. Claus calls “naked candy canes.”

Zane Dyer does a terrific job of portraying this character whom you can’t help but sympathize with. Holly, played by twelve-year-old Hailey Stevenson, is Norman’s champion who stands up for him. The third elf is Sparkles, a snarky bully played with perfection by eight-year-old Brooklyn Brijbag.

Michelle Root wrote “Candy Cane Chaos” many years ago and has seen it produced one other time. She was inspired to write the play when, one Christmas, she brought home white candy canes from the store and decorated her tree with them.

“I called them ‘naked candy canes’ and my children thought that was hysterical,” Michelle remembers, “so I decided to write a play about that.”

Lynda Dilts-Benson, another Stage West veteran, co-directed the play with Michelle. Both have had experience as co-directors on other plays and, because the two have known each other for so long, their partnership was seamless.

The only challenge was the fact that when rehearsals started, there were two other plays in process on the stages and they had to work around the other plays’ schedules. Also, Lynda was on a trip for the first month of rehearsals. Michelle rehearsed the actors running their lines and when Lynda got back, she worked on blocking and other technical details. Speaking of technical details, most people don’t realize how many people it takes to put a play together. There are the set decorators; the costumers and props people; the crew that changes the sets between scenes; and the stage manager, the director’s right-hand person.

The lights and sound technicians are a crucial part of the process because these two facets lend the ambiance and atmosphere to the play. These are probably the ones that are most difficult to control sometimes−from crackling to silent microphones and music that sometimes doesn’t appear right on cue−there are a myriad of complications that can cause a sound and lights technician to pull their hair out. Not only is the sound system made up of the music that’s in the play, but also the sound effects (crashes, telephones ringing, etc.) that have to show up at just the right time.

Dee Curran multi-tasks these jobs with a cool head and a sense of humor. She has worked in sound and lighting for many of Stage West’s productions. Occasionally, she’ll make suggestions on certain lighting aspects, but usually, she follows the director’s lead. Dee’s only nemesis is the technological advances with computerized and digitized systems that are now used in stage productions.

“It’s a whole new learning curve,” Dee remarks.

That’s one of the reasons she’s training other people to do the job. She finds that the younger people pick up the computerized systems quickly. Dee also needs other people to work on these important aspects because her job in Tampa requires her to work a lot of overtime.

Cassidy Stevens, who plays Mrs. Claus with her wide range of emotions, attended Hollywood High School and had dreams of becoming an actress. However, in college, she changed her major from Theatre to English. Afterward, she became a wife and mother and was away from theatre for more than twenty years. This show is her first time back on stage.

She finds one of the more challenging aspects of acting again is memorizing lines. Gaining the confidence to get “back in the saddle” again was also challenging. Michelle wanted Cassidy to portray Mrs. Claus with a distinctive Minnesota accent. “I watched episodes of ‘Fargo’ and YouTube videos to learn the accent and I think I have it down pretty well.”

One of the most enjoyable aspects of acting in “Candy Cane Chaos” was being on stage with her daughter, Hailey. “It’s been so much fun and rewarding to just be us and we can escape to rehearsals, just the two of us.”

Hailey Stevenson has been in a number of productions in her short acting career. She attended the summer acting camp at Stage West and has been in plays at her school. “The most rewarding thing about acting is that I can break out of my shell and I meet so many people. I’ve fallen in love with acting,” says Hailey. “It’s given me a lot of appreciation for what actors go through.”

“Candy Cane Chaos” is a light-hearted play that people of all ages will enjoy. One of the fun aspects of the play is the audience participation that the show encourages. Throughout the performance, the cast asks the audience to sing along and they also leave the stage to perform in the aisles. This brings the show up close and personal, especially for people who may not have seen a live play before.

The show will have a short run. The evening performance will be Friday, December 6th at 7:30 p.m. The matinees will be Saturday, December 7th and Sunday, December 8th at 2 p.m.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.stagewestplayhouse.org or by calling the box office at 352-683-5113.