Theatre Review: 'Who's Holiday!' by Castle Craig Players

MERIDEN - Castle Craig Players, who presents live entertainment in the heart of beautifully decorated downtown Meriden, is presenting a hilarious one-woman show “Who’s Holiday! A Comedy with a Twist of Rhyme” by Matthew Lombardo.

The writing of this one-act comedy with a bit of music is clever, and is even more impressive in that virtually all of the lines rhyme in the style of Dr. Seuss. When the rhythm lapses, we notice and often laugh. The sold-out opening night audience laughed throughout the hour-long performance.

The play is a crazy, funny and heartstrings-tugging adults-only comedy that tells the story of the now-adult Cindy Lou. She regales the audience with her memories of that Christmas Eve when

The show stars the multi-talented Kelly Boucher as Cindy Lou Who in her Castle Craig debut. Boucher studied acting at The Shakespeare Theatre, The Neighborhood Playhouse and The Actor’s Studio MFA program at The New School. She earned her BA at Eastern CT State University and her MBA at Temple University. I know! I had the honor of seeing her embody the role of Katherine Hepburn in “Tea at Five” at the now-closed Connecticut Cabaret Theatre.

In “Who’s Holiday!,” the actress is daring, loveable, naughty and charming as the aging Cindy Lou, who tells her life story after the Grinch’s heart grew three sizes that day when she was “no more than two.” In the role of Cindy Lou, Boucher proves that she is a talented comedic actor and singer.

Ian Galligan and Oliver Kochol directed the piece with a keen eye to balancing the comedic elements with the more dramatic moments. Galligan, who began working on the marketing team at Goodspeed Musicals in October and is loving it there, made his acting debut as Tiny Tim at Castle Craig 26 years ago. He has since directed a slew of challenging musicals. At the risk of sounding like his mother, I am so proud of this young man.

Kochol is a graduate of UConn with a BA in Theatre, who most recently directed “Almost, Maine” at Castle Craig.

Michael Sottile is credited with the original score and arrangements, including a dour version of “Blue Christmas” that fits the moment in the play. Cindy Lou also has the opportunity to show off her “white girl” rapping skills.

Dusty Rader designed the lighting that illuminates the amazingly decorated set of Cindy Lou’s little trailer home. Mary Dacey gets the credit for the perfectly appropriate wig design. The two costumes that the character wears are festive and well-suited to the character. The excellent Castle Craig actress Jennifer Del Sole throws the snowballs as the only member of the run crew.

So grab a snack and come celebrate the holidays with Cindy Lou Who at Castle Craig. “Pull up a seat and fill up your cup/ ‘Cause your favorite little Who is all grown up.” There are many raunchy touches in the script, so do not bring the youngest Whos with you.

All upcoming performances, except for Saturday, Dec. 18, are sold out. Grab your seats for that performance while you still can - you won't be sorry.

The production sponsor for the show is Ion Bank.

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theatre reviews since 2012 as a way to support local theatre venues. She posts reviews of well over 100 productions each year. In 2016, she became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle. She continues to contribute theatre news, previews, and audition notices to local Patch sites. Reviews of all levels of theatrical productions are posted on Naugatuck Patch and the Patch sites closest to the venue. She recently became a contributor to the Waterbury Republican-American newspaper. Her weekly column and theatre reviews appear in the Thursday Weekend section of the paper.

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