If there’s one great thing about traditions, it is that they are best enjoyed when they are skewered. When, as the Brits say, we take the piss out of them. Though I don’t have hard facts on this, I believe that the Pasadena Playhouse Holiday Spectacular will do just that. One reason I am fairly confident of this is the casting of the always talented and reliably irreverent Lesli Margherita as one of the four cast members in the show.
Margherita is an Olivier-Award winner (the British equivalent of the Tony Awards) for her performance in Zorro: The Musical. She made her Broadway debut as Mrs. Wormwood in Tim Minchin‘s musical Matilda. She previously appeared in Pasadena Playhouse’s You I Like: A Musical Celebration of Jerry Herman.
The show opens on December 14th and joining Margherita in the show are MaryAnn Hu, George Salazar, Jason Michael Snow and, perhaps, you (see below.) The Pasadena Playhouse Holiday Spectacular is directed by Sam Pinkleton (Head Over Heels at the Pasadena Playhouse and choreographer of Stephen Sondheim‘s final musical, Here We Are) who co-created the show with Randy Blair. The show runs through December 23rd.
But what it is? That was where I started my conversation recently with Margherita. What follows are excerpts from that interview that have been edited for length and clarity. To see the full interview, please go to our YouTube channel. (You don’t want to miss this one…it’s a hoot.)
Q: It seems as though all the details about this show are being carefully kept under lock and key. I know that Sam Pinkleton is the co-creator and director and that the four of you are in the show. Given how little I know and the public knows about this show, how much did you know when you were first approached by the Pasadena Playhouse about being part of their holiday spectacular?
Not a thing. When the artistic director, Danny Feldman, reached out to me he said, Holiday show. Sam Pinkleton, who I had wanted to work with forever. And it may or may not be this way, but he said the concept right now is curtain up. You on an empty stage. And I said, in. Then I knew the three other actors – who were phenomenal. That was enough for me to say yes. We really didn’t know anything until the first day of rehearsal.
You probably know a lot more now since you’re ten days away from opening.
Correct. We know a lot more now. We’re still keeping a lot of it a secret. I can tell you that spectacular is a loosely used term for this show. But it is hysterical. It is heartwarming and is probably not what you think it’s going to be.
There was only one thing that disturbed me knowing that Sam Pinkleton, you and George and others are involved in this show. The website says it is appropriate for children six years and older. I was hoping there would be at least a one in front of the six.
That actually was very surprising to all of us involved. I will tell you, though, in rehearsal there should be a designated person just to be like, “you can’t say that.” But it is family friendly. That was unexpected for me. Holiday shows and adult content for me kind of go hand-in-hand. So I was shocked.
I am expecting everything and the kitchen sink thrown in on a very low budget.
That is exactly what you’re going to get. What they told me I’m allowed to say is that it’s about a holiday spectacular that is coming from another town that has been playing an out-of-town tryout [and is] coming to the Playhouse. There are four people involved that are the creative team of this holiday spectacular that may or may not arrive on time for the opening night at Pasadena Playhouse. So what does that mean when a 65-person plus animals flying everything doesn’t arrive in time? What do those four people then have to put on in place of that?
That concept sounds like it would be it would be fairly structured and scripted, but it also seems like it affords all four of you tremendous freedom. Does it?
Completely. It is very structured. But there is a lot of freedom in it and that’s what makes it so fun. I can’t keep a straight face when I’m supposed to. There is a lot of audience interaction and opportunity for the audience to get involved. Each night a different local group, whether it be a choir or a marching band or a dance troupe, every night we’re highlighting a local Los Angeles group. But there’s plenty of room for hijinks.
What are the challenges for you as a performer in a show like this? You only have 14 performances.
The hard thing for me is I am portraying the director of this piece. I’m kind of the cat wrangler for the whole thing. So I have very clear points as to where we need to go and what needs to happen. The hardest thing for me is not wanting to get carried away. I need to keep things going. That’s a tough job for me because if something’s funny, I want it to go on forever.
Those first few shows are going to be very telling and very fun because I think that’s when we really find out what is going to happen. I think by the end of it we’ll probably be pros at it.
But I actually prefer not knowing what’s going to happen because that’s really where all the great nuggets from.
Are you able to channel all the many directors with whom you’ve worked into this character?
Correct. And I really hope they don’t recognize themselves in it. Everyone that we have worked with or have stories about informs these characters. There’s a director, a stage manager, a costume supervisor and a crew member. So all of these people that we love and adore, we’re kind of lampooning. It’s very Waiting for Guffman. We’re skewering other major city’s holiday spectaculars, with all the major sets and everything.
You haven’t been working with Sam Pinkleton for that long, but will Sam find his way into this show as well?
Sam is this entire show. He is the most genius. For years people have said, “You guys must know each other. You must have worked together.” And we haven’t. This was the perfect introduction for us both to work together. Now I don’t want to ever work with anyone else. He is all over this.
Holiday shows, if I’m thinking about the ones that happen in other cities, one of them has a row of long legs. There is the absolutely inevitable appearance of Santa Claus. They usually revolve around the same 12 or 14 holiday songs that we all know and love. Can you assure me that we are not going to be subjected to the very same songs that are in every show everywhere around the world?
I can absolutely assure you that you are going to get a version of all of those things, of the long legs and the snow falling and the Santa appearance, but you will not be hearing those same songs. What Sam and Randy did was they pulled some deep cuts that are incredible. If you do hear a couple of those same old chestnuts, I guarantee they have never done been done like this before. You’re not going to be subjected to the same, I don’t want to say tired, but the same old holiday spectacular. But if for some reason you wanted to see a chorus line of reindeer, you may get that. It just may not be how you think it’s going to be.
How important do you think it is, for the theater community, for there to be shows that can only be done once instead of this desire for everything to be part of a bigger machine?
I think it is so important. The one thing that disappointed me about Broadway was how corporate it was. I understand it. I understand people have to make money. It’s so special to create something just once in a capsule. Not everything has to transfer. Not every off-Broadway show has to go to Broadway. There are special things about shows that just exist, for a certain amount of time, that people at the top of their game create because we have to keep doing that. Otherwise we will just be stuck with stagnant shows that tour for years and years and years and never change. We have to keep pushing the boundaries.
Speaking of Broadway, I do have to ask you one question about Matilda. The mere mention of When I Grow Up can bring me to tears. How do you get through a thousand performances without that song impacting you? Or can you?
It’s pretty well documented how much I love that show and how grateful I was to be a part of it. The way that my track was, I could watch Revolting Children every single night from the back of the house because I made an entrance. And I did watch it every single night for over a thousand performances. Had I been able to see When I Grow Up, I don’t think I would have been able to go on after it.
We had a bunch of pre-checks for the shows, for the kids, the sets and the swing track was part of it. I would always watch it and just ball, even just in rehearsal. What Tim wrote and that whole team that set-designed, that moment of the swings is so incredible.
I cried often and the most I cried was when I knew some of these kids were leaving and it was their last time on the swings. It was something that I dreaded every few months when the kids got too big. I was a blubbering mess the whole time.
I don’t think I’ll ever do a show like that again. I’m so, so grateful that it took me so long to get to Broadway. It was just incredible.
I lose it every time the adults take over the swings.
I finally got to do it. On the final day they let me on the swings and there’s the picture of my face like that. The best moment.
We’re living in in a troubled world. I think it’s safe to say trip theaters are having troubles getting people back in. We’re all having huge problems getting together. If you could have one wish for the holiday season for 2023 going into 2024, what would it be? What would you like to see this holiday season bring that is different than previous holiday seasons?
Peace is the obvious answer. We’re just more divided now than ever. Finding a way to coexist. Finding a way to let people be who they are. Live your life and let someone else live theirs. It’s all of that. But for sure, peace, because it’s really feels like the world is on fire.
After 14 performances as well as several weeks of the holidays around you, infiltrating every moment of your waking day, are you planning on celebrating the holidays by doing anything but the holidays?
We run until the 23rd and I’ll probably just be sleeping through the holidays. I always celebrate with with my family up north. So I think I’m going to make my husband drive and I’ll conk out with my dog in the back. I’ll celebrate, but be exhausted. I’m sure I’ll be exhausted.
To watch the full interview with Lesli Margherita, please go here.
Main Photo: Lesli Margherita and George Salazar in Pasadena Playhouse Holiday Spectacular (Photo by Jeff Lorch/Courtesy Pasadena Playhouse)