The True Meaning of Christmas - A Child’s Christmas in Wales

A sad song’s best for winter, but the show’s songs range from solemn to silly, and Thomas’ poetry and Bells thoughtful arrangements really lift this show into orbit.

There are some turkeys -- seasonal songs like C. Frank Horn’s “Miss Fogarty's Christmas Cake” aren’t really as lyrically inventive or even as funny as they let on, and while this number lent an Irish note to a Welsh celebration, it could just as easily be retired without incident.

The lighting design needed a few extra tweaks as the show got ready for opening night. Green laser starlight made a good impression on the theater’s backdrop, but it also landed on the faces of some of the actors from time to time, making you worry for their vision. Rousing choruses were interrupted by washes of light that came on just a millisecond too soon or too late.

Otherwise, though, A Child’s Christmas in Wales is a reminder of what the Irish Repertory Theatre does best -- it brings together the top theater professionals in New York to put on a show that ends up creatively outgunning every off-Broadway house in the city, time after time.

The run ends on January 2. For tickets and showtimes call 212-727-2739.
 

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Nster.com