Celebrate the Season in St. Paul

White Christmas at Ordway Center
For years, the Guthrie Theater’s production of A Christmas Carol in Minneapolis was the standard-bearer for traditional holiday stagecraft. But this year, St. Paul’s Ordway Center for the Performing Arts is drawing big crowds with a stage adaptation of Irving Berlin’s White Christmas.

The classic 1954 musical comes to life in grand fashion with fifty-two crew members, thirty-three company members, twenty-five orchestra members, and fifteen scene changes. “It’s one of the largest shows we will have ever had on our stage,” says Tyra Novic Wahman, Ordway’s communications and public relations manager.

The musical—complete with a small surprise at the end—sticks closely to the plot of the original movie, in which two showbiz buddies put on a show in a Vermont inn and find their true loves in the process. Not only will the production itself exude holiday magic, but the backdrop of Ordway Center will undoubtedly enhance the spirit of the season. “Our two-story windowed foyer overlooks Rice Park,” Wahman says. “What an incredible day for families. They can have this festive day in the park and then walk across the street to see the most incredible holiday musical ever.”

White Christmas is a true community production. Actors from the play will sing at the Rice Park tree-lighting ceremony and perform in different holiday-related events throughout St. Paul. From a business perspective, Capital City Partnership and its members provided the financial resources that enabled the Ordway Center to bring such a large production to St. Paul. Ordway Center is co-producing the musical with The Wang Center for the Performing Arts in Boston and will host White Christmas every other year.

‘A Wonderful Life’ at The Saint Paul Hotel
Across Rice Park at The Saint Paul Hotel, another holiday classic entertains guests. It’s a Wonderful Life—A Live Radio Play accompanies the annual holiday high-tea tradition at the hotel.

It’s a Wonderful Life replaces the ten-year tradition of Tea with Dickens, which is now only being performed in England. The hotel’s new production is adapted from the 1946 Frank Capra film about George Bailey, the down-on-his-luck banker who learns the true meaning of Christmas after a visit from his guardian angel. The production at The Saint Paul Hotel is presented in a live-radio format. (Not without precedent: A radio version of the original film was broadcast on radio the year after its release.) The script for the current production is infused with clever ads for area businesses and other old-fashioned touches reminiscent of radio’s golden age. (Think Prairie Home Companion.) Jim Cunningham, co-founder and artistic director of the Actors Theater of Minnesota, will produce and act in the play. Executive Chef Lance Kapps will prepare the menu for the multi-course high tea that is served in conjunction with the production.

In addition to the Wonderful Life high tea, The Saint Paul Hotel offers other high teas throughout November and December, including a holiday decorating tea and children’s candy cane tea. Carolers will also regularly perform in the elegantly decorated lobby of the hotel.

Dan Dick, general manager for The Saint Paul Hotel, believes the high teas nicely complement the many other festivities happening around the city during the holidays. “Winters don’t keep us locked out,” Dick says. “The community really embraces the holiday season here.”