STRIKING 12


Rock, folk, jazz and pop get fused to exhilarating effect in Striking 12, the most uniquely original Chance Theater holiday musical to date.

Written (and first performed) by musical trio GrooveLily, Striking 12 recounts the New Year’s Eve adventures of a grumpy New York City clock-puncher and the incorrigibly optimistic “Little Light Bulb Girl” who pops into his life one New Year’s Eve as a Hans Christian Andersen story works its magic on them both.

The fairytale in question is that of The Little Match Girl, whose only warmth on a freezing cold December 31st are the twelve matches she lights one by one until the very last one has burned out and sub-zero weather does what sub-zero weather does best.

That’s right, as our grouchy hero is about to discover, when Hans Christian Andersen’s “characters get what they want, there is often a rude surprise,” precisely what his best buddy informs him in “Screwed-Up People Make Great Art,” just one of over a dozen intoxicatingly complex, undeniably catchy GrooveLily songs featured in Striking 12.

Unlike Andersen’s rather grim fairy tale, the far sunnier Striking 12 ends up exactly what the doctor ordered for anyone suffering from the December blues.

From “Last Day Of The Year,” which has our hero ranting about strangers talking to strangers and “bubbling like champagne,” to his “Resolution” to spend New Year’s Eve with cat, couch, remote, and La-Z-Boy, to “The Sales Pitch” our heroine gives for her “full-spectrum lights to penetrate the gloom,” to “Hey La La/Fine, Fine, Fine,” a grumpy guy’s response to the questions that greet him when he finally does decide to attend a dreaded New Year’s Eve party, Striking 12 grabs its audience and holds them tight till the final fade-out.

Originally conceived of as “a cross between a GrooveLily concert and a holiday story,” Striking 12 has since morphed into a full-fledged chamber musical featuring songs and scenes written by Brendan Milburn, Gene Lewin, and Valerie Vigoda and casts ranging from three performers to as many as twelve.

Director Kari Hayter opts for a five-person ensemble, four of whom do double duty as Striking 12’s onstage band: Allen Everman and music director Lex Leigh on keyboards (and Leigh on electric violin), Jennifer Richardson on cello, and Laura Leo Kelly on drums, with Jacklyn Uweh adding bits of percussion when not playing Striking 12’s version of Anderson’s Match Girl.

It’s a approach that works quite terrifically, allowing Striking 12 to preserve its indie-rock-concert origins while giving audiences enough plot-and-character-propelled storytelling to make musical theater fans feel right at home.

Everman, who’s probably won as many Scenies as a musical theater leading man as he has in music director mode, proves the perfect choice to bring “The Man Who’s Had Enough” to life as he alternates between tickling the ivories and embodying the musical’s antisocial lead to stellar effect.

Uweh is a waiflike charmer as a young woman selling electric remedies for Seasonal Affective Disorder (aka SAD, aka the Wintertime Blues), and her expressive vocals suit the character to a T.

Richardson get to show off her talent with a cello and a bow in addition while embodying multiple characters (Jack, Diane, NYE Host, Narrator, and Lydia) and the same can be said for the engaging Kelly, who plays Craig, Space Invader Girl, Lydia, Grandma, Erica … and the drums, in addition to providing occasional foley effects.

Last but not least, Leigh not only earns points for music direction but gets to show off virtuoso electric violin bow-work, keyboard expertise, and step in as a character known only as Post-Nasal Drip Guy.

Masako Tobaru’s production design and James Tran’s scene-setting projections allow Striking 12 to be both rock concert and plot-driven New York City-set musical, and Jojo Siu’s costumes work terrifically too, with special snaps for Uweh’s Christmas-light-adorned parka.

Cynthia C. Espinosa is stage manager. Meghan Pender is assistant to the director.

After years of alternating Little Women, Anne Of Green Gables, and The Secret Garden (with an occasional She Loves Me or Jane Austen’s Emma thrown into the holiday mix) Chance Theater is taking a bit of a chance on a Christmas musical that few if any will have heard of before, but give Striking 12 a chance. It’ll grab you from the get-go and set your heart ablaze with holiday warmth and cheer.

Chance Theater, 5522 E. La Palma Ave., Anaheim Hills.
www.chancetheater.com

–Steven Stanley
December 4, 2021
Photos: Doug Catiller and Tanya Catiller/True Image Studio

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