William Sidney Porter, generally known as O. Henry before the candy bar was created, may have been this country's finest short-story writer. He wrote in the early days of the last century for dozens of magazines. Two of his best-known tales have been adapted, with music, and put together as "An O. Henry Christmas," in its final weekend at Avalon Theatre Company's Crestwood Court performance space.
The difficulty with the play (or plays), adapted by Peter Ekstrom, who added the music and lyrics, is that O. Henry's genius lay in his rare talent to tell a story and get out, usually with a charming twist. In trying to expand a short story into even half of a play, Ekstrom wraps the nugget of the story in so much extraneous matter and so many songs that the tiny gem of O. Henry's genius is lost.
"The Gift of the Magi," a loving, sentimental tale, serves as the first act, but with only two people and no chance to expand the action, Leah Berry, as Della, and Stephen Rich, as Jim, become extremely repetitious, especially with Ekstrom inserting nine songs and a reprise of one. The composer does it for comic effect in "Your Hair Is Gone!" but the comedy runs out of gas in a few minutes. Berry offers a pleasing voice and a nice sense of presence, but Rich is less vital.
"The Last Leaf," a tale of keeping hope alive and the power of positive thinking, involves Berry and Rich again, plus Jennifer M. Theby and Jerry Vogel. Ekstrom expands things, including a sub-plot, and Vogel is effective in an over-the-top portrayal of a gin-soaked German painter. Theby and Berry are artists starving in a Greenwich Village garret; Rich is a doctor who also serves as a narrator. He's more secure, and Vogel is always strong, but he'd be more effective with a little less gin. The relationship between the women is unclear, but neither is memorable. Larry Mabrey's direction seemed to slip out of focus from time to time; Kevin Kurth's musical direction was fine.
An Avalon Theatre Company production at Crestwood Court today and tomorrow.
–Joe