Creative Cauldron’s holiday offering this season has been a return to its stage of one of the venue’s favorites, “Madeline’s Christmas,” which ran in Falls Church through December 21. This musical adaptation by Jennifer Kirkeby, directed well by Matt Conner, is based on the 1956 book by Ludwig Bemelmans, an Austrian native who adopted the U.S. as his home and wrote children’s stories about the girl Madeline and her school friends in France. Many parents in the audience likely grew up with this book series and relished the opportunity to share it with their own children at Creative Cauldron this December.
The holiday-themed story as presented at the Cauldron revolves around young Madeline, her twelve boarding school classmates, and their caretaker, Miss Clavel (a part assayed by Shaina Kuhn). As a school excursion, the girls have visited a zoo on a cold day (children were costumed with animal masks in this production). The twelve return from the zoo to their French history class, where they all start sneezing. Miss Clavel and all the girls subsequently become ill—that is, save for Madeline, who takes cares of them. Thus, small Madeline, the tiniest of all, must assume a role that is very large!
Late at night, a knock is heard. It being the Christmas season, Madeleine supposes it is Santa, but it is instead a rug salesman (depicted by Josh Carias). Madeline tells the salesman that the girls cannot travel home to their families. The rug salesman, revealing himself to be a magician, then offers her twelve small carpets. Will the girls get well in time for Christmas? Quoting from the book, will it be soon when “Miss Clavel again quite well/ [thinks] it time to ring her bell?” Will the magic carpets have the power to waft the children off to see their families for the holidays? One need only to listen to “Abracadabra,” one of the many perky musical numbers performed by the Mr. Carias and the talented young cast, to know that this Arabian Nights-themed aspect of the tale may indeed have the power to work magic.
In addition to the spirited cast’s acting and singing, the set design of Margie Jervis comes in for high praise, for it imitates effectively the whimsical illustrations of Madeline’s boarding school as well as Paris’ iconic Eiffel Tower from the original Bemelmans book. When last we saw a production at Creative Cauldron, it was bilingual: in English as well as Spanish. This time around, befitting the Parisian setting of “Madeline’s Christmas,” French words and phrases are often employed by the cast, “Bonjour,” merci,” “s’il vous plait,” and the French phrase to greet the New Year: “Bonne année”
Most memorable, perhaps, is the story’s theme that goes well behind the holiday season, to wit: even someone as small and seemingly powerless as little Madeline may rise to the occasion to accomplish great things and bring health and goodwill to the world around her!
