![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Adobe-Express-file-67.jpg\")
Everett Baugarten and Amber Ward in Narnia, the Musical Credit: Pin Lim<\/p>\nThere are two distinct locales for this critique: the Regency manse at Pemberley (Georgiana and Kitty, Christmas at Pemberley at Main Street) and C.S. Lewis\u2019 mystical realm of Narnia (Narnia, the Musical, at A.D. Players). Both places are required viewing during the holiday season; G and K for the adults, Narnia for the kiddies (although adults might learn a thing or two, also).<\/p>\n
Georgiana and Kitty, Christmas at Pemberley<\/p>\n
Lauren Gunderson remains the most produced playwright in the U.S., so says the statistical bible of theater production, American Theatre magazine. Who, I hear you asking? This young prolific writer has penned a raft of plays that have struck a chord with audiences: The Revolutionists, Silent Sky, The Half-Life of Marie Curie, The Book of Will, I and You, among others. She focuses on women in historical contexts, to honor their courage, grit, and determination to match men in whatever field they espouse. She gives these under-appreciated women their due, deservedly so.<\/p>\n
She hit gold with her social satire trilogy, Christmas at Pemberley, a witty, Wildean triple bill that asks the question, What happened to everybody after Jane Austen\u2019s Pride and Prejudice. Where are they now? The Janeites turned out in droves to re-connect with the five Bennet sisters and learn their fate, and, during the holiday season, one of her triad is playing somewhere in America. Be it Miss Bennet, The Wickhams, or Georgiana and Kitty.<\/p>\n
Clever, intelligent Elizabeth and her cat-and-mouse maneuverings with Fitzwilliam Darcy was so thoroughly covered in P&P that I assume Gunderson and co-writer Margot Melcon decided that these two had enough print time, so they sought to mine the other four daughters. Bookworm Mary, an observer with sharp tongue and bon mots, takes center stage in Miss Bennet; wayward and flighty Lydia, the youngest, is the protagonist of The Wickhams; and Kitty is somewhat the focus of Georgiana and Kitty. Somewhat, because Darcy\u2019s sister Georgiana is soloed almost exclusively. Poor Kitty is a plus-one. And dear, sweet Jane, the eldest, is relegated through the triptyph as almost non-existent, sitting on the divan either pregnant and doing needlepoint or as a new mother on the divan doing needlepoint. Yemi Otulana is a striking presence on stage, but Jane is so underwritten and underused you wonder why Gunderson and Melcon even included her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So the play falls to Georgiana and actor Lindsey Ehrhardt, who has a field day in the role. She is headstrong, at odds with her stuffy brother, and a prodigy at the piano. She composes on the side, but under an assumed male name. This ruse will be the fulcrum around which the second act \u2013 and her love story \u2013 revolves. Ehrhardt never disappoints, whether playing the haughty and pompous Anne de Bough in Miss Bennet or the liberated, outspoken Georgiana. If she keeps her light under a bushel, it isn\u2019t for long. She blazes.<\/p>\n
Robby Matlock (so memorable in Stages\u2019 The Lehman Trilogy as youngest brother Mayer, the \u201cpotato\u201d) plays Henry Grey, in love with Georgiana from afar ever since he met her at one of her concerts. Prejudiced Darcy neither approves of this match nor her playing in public. Matlock knows just what he\u2019s doing with his awkward poses and obsequious bows, but we know the flame for Georgiana will not be extinguished. No matter the obstacles \u2013 and there are many to be thrown in his path \u2013 he will win her, he thinks, even after years of not seeing her. It\u2019s a detailed performance, right in every way.<\/p>\n
Clara Marsh, as Kitty, has to battle with a few plot predicaments that don\u2019t ring true, but she rides over them with a bubbly and true personality. Ian Lewis, who has lost his rich Irish accent since last he played Thomas O\u2019Brien in 2023, still possesses devilish charm in spades. As boisterous Lydia who refuses to be bored at Pemberley, Helen Rios needs a net thrown over her to keep her down. Way over the top. Always the diplomat, Laura Kaldis, as Elizabeth Bennet, is all poise and soothing sister to her siblings, charming and attractive as the robin\u2019s egg blue of Pemberley\u2019s wallpaper. Tsk-ing in the background or making peace between her adored husband and his once-adored sister, she and Darcy (a proud and ramrod Spencer Plachy) don\u2019t have much to do in this play except run interference for the others, but Darcy\u2019s heartfelt apology to Georgiana at play\u2019s end is the moral of the tale and is rendered with conviction and sincerity. Bravo, Plachy.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dare I say, many complications arise for the indefatigable and irrepressible Bennet sisters, yet the comic play keeps all the balls in the air with immense grace and charm. It has a lovely way of blending the ancient regime with our new one. Clever and witty, the repartee is Austen-like, skewing toward the distaff at Darcy\u2019s expense. There\u2019s a satisfactory twist at the end which is neat, a proposal long overdue, family arguments to get settled with sisterly wiles, recitals at the pianoforte, and Donna Southern Smith\u2019s radiant costumes to keep you enthralled. There are tail coats to be whisked up before sitting for the men, and multiple empire gowns for the ladies of the manse with detailed embroidery or diaphanous overlays.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s quite the picture at Main Street\u2019s Pemberley. Immerse yourself in another world that often looks surprisingly like our own.<\/p>\n
Georgiana and Kitty, Christmas at Pemberley continues through December 21 at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays and 3 p.m. Sundays at Main Street Theater, 2540 Times Boulevard. For more information, call 713-524-6706 or visit mainstreettheater.com. $15-$64.<\/p>\n
Everett Baugarten and Amber Ward in Narnia, the Musical Credit: Pin Lim<\/p>\n
Narnia, the Musical<\/p>\n
Not to be confused with Narnia, the Ballet, or Narnia, the Interpretive Dance, or Narnia, The Symphonic Poem, Narnia, the Musical (off-Broadway, 1993) is exactly what it says it is. The show is built for kids, and for the most part they should eat it up. Of course, I doubt they will understand the religious parable that C.S. Lewis weaves through his hit books that chronicle the adventures of the four Pevensie children (Lucy, Susan, Peter and Edmund) sent into the English countryside to escape the German blitz on London during the early days of WW II.<\/p>\n
Inside the immense wardrobe in the Professor\u2019s gothic country house, the children enter a magic portal that transports them into the fantasy world of Narnia, where talking fauns carry umbrellas (he talks in this show, but no umbrella), unicorns run free, cantankerous married beavers bicker, and there is now perpetual snow and ice. There\u2019s winter, but no Christmas, say the enchanted inhabitants. The tyrannical White Witch rules the kingdom., but the actual king is Aslan, the mighty and fierce Lion, who is the actual ruler. His return is dreaded by the Witch and by the prophecy of her power being defeated by \u201ctwo sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve.\u201d Hence, any humans in her kingdom are immediately killed or seduced into her service, as is Edmund by Turkish Delight and the promise to be made king.<\/p>\n
In an abbreviated adaptation by Jules Tasca of Lewis\u2019 classic tale The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,the musical skips over motivation and character development to give us archetypes and easy-to-decipher plot points. The music, by prolific composer Thomas Tierney, is a bit Sondheim-light with jagged melodies that cry for that master\u2019s orchestrator, Jonathan Tunick. Ted Drachman\u2019s lyrics are fine and serviceable, but the music, prerecorded, sounds thin and undistinguished via synthesizer. That\u2019s too bad, because a few of the numbers are quite memorable: \u201cDoors and Windows;\u201d \u201cNarnia (You Can\u2019t Imagine), sung hymn-like by Saroa-Dwayne Sasa as Mr. Tumnus, the faun; a jazzy \u201cHot and Bothered,\u201d sung by the White Witch (a deliciously evil Amber Ward with the belt of Merman); Aslan\u2019s gorgeous ballad to a repentant Edmund, \u201cFrom the Inside Out,\u201d or his anthem \u201cTo Make the World Right Again,\u201d both rendered in the sonorous tenor of Daniel Z. Miller. There\u2019s gold in this score, it\u2019s just insufficiently mined.<\/p>\n
Watch and listen to Mark Quach and Leah Bernal as Mr. and Mrs. Beaver. You can\u2019t miss \u2018em. They delightfully chew up the scenery and sing up a storm. What a pair of English music hall vaudevillians.<\/p>\n
I must say, the child actors are very good indeed. And they can sing. Jonah Mendoza\u2019s Peter can really sing, loud and crisp, and effective. It was a pleasure hearing him. Everett Baumgarten\u2019s falsetto relayed\u00a0 Edmund\u2019s petulance and vanity; Paige Klase\u2019s Susan was no-nonsense in her anti-war stance; and little Annalise Wisdom, as young Lucy, displayed great chops in the lovely \u201cA Field of Flowers,\u201d an ode to Aslan.<\/p>\n
The pacing by director Ashlee Wasmund is lackluster with awkward pauses or entrances and exits abnormally drawn out. Even the turntable turns too slowly. Pick up the pace, please, or else the kids will be falling asleep after the opening number.<\/p>\n
The biggest disappointment is Afsaneh Aayani\u2019s puppet for Aslan. Her prior work in Houston theater has always been amazing, clever, often verging on the astonishing. But here, big ol\u2019 lug Aslan is a bore. Moved by three puppeteers, among them Miller as his voice, head, and front leg, Aslan has no grace, charm, or much imagination. His mouth doesn\u2019t even move. Really, we\u2019ve seen The Lion King and The Life of Pi. We know how incredibly believable life-size puppets can be, even when manipulated by onstage hands. But this Aslan needs an overhaul.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Sunday matinee performance was sold-out, so the story of Narnia still sells. An international best-seller for decades, always listed as one of the great reads for children (and some adults, too), Lewis\u2019 magic carpet ride speaks to children of all ages. A.D. Player\u2019s production, abetted by Tatiana Vintu\u2019s fanciful sets, Kristina Miller-Ortiz\u2019 whimsical costumes, David Palmer\u2019s lighting, those talented kids, the grand ol\u2019 troupers enlivening the Beavers, and Joel Sandel\u2019s crusty ol\u2019 Father Christmas and a wry, all-knowing Professor, keep this story of faith, hope, and community alive for another generation. It just needs more magic.<\/p>\n
Narnia, the Musical continues through December 23 at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays at A.D. Players at The George, 5420 Westheimer. For more information, call 713-526-2721 or visit adplayers.org. $10-$85.<\/p>\n