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Everything is fun about playing the iconic role of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, says Sarah Miller-Crews, her voice overflowing with holiday cheer while on a break during tech rehearsal in Spokane.
"This show is just one of those shows that is sort of impossible not to have fun with," says Miller-Crews, who will be trying to join in the reindeer games as the touring musical flies into the Capitol Theatre Nov. 20-22. "The animated characters are so iconic that it's a joy to bring them to life."
It's one of three "Rudolph" tours hitting the road this year, after the show's inaugural run last year. All this for a holiday tale adapted from the popular stop-motion-animated 1964 television special, which itself was inspired by a classic holiday song. Mention "Rudolph," the song, and anyone who remembers VHS tapes is likely to have Burt Ives' voice as an earworm for the next several hours.
What's curious about the musical is that its aim is to transport theatergoers into the television special, promoters say, rather than to adapt the show into another genre. Along with Miller-Crews and the rest of an enthusiastic cast, the musical showcases puppets and nostalgic set designs, projections and costumes.
Featured in the ensemble is Provo native AJ Maynes, 22, who attended Timpview High School and Tuacahn High School for the Performing Arts before attending Brigham Young University, where he toured with the ballet company.
He plays an elf, a reindeer in the reindeer games scene, and a cowboy who rides an ostrich, one of the misfit toys.
Playing the cowboy is particularly surreal, Maynes says, as that was his favorite character in the television show, one of the three claymation holiday shows his family watched every year.
A highlight during last week's tech rehearsal was learning to fly from Cathy Rigby, the former Olympic gymnast-turned-actress who is noted for playing Peter Pan on Broadway and on national tours, even past age 60. "I was basically taught to fly by Peter Pan," Maynes says. "She taught us how to spin and how to do flips and where we need to be in order to make the flying look good."
The actor is expecting his parents and brothers, and a handful of his cousins (he explains he's got 33 cousins just on his father's side, most of whom live in Utah), to attend the Capitol Theatre run. "It'll be good to be back home," Maynes says.
As for Miller-Crews, who plays Rudolph, she says she was cast in the role for her ability to sound as spunky, youthful and innocent as the character.
In rehearsal, the actor says, she's been practicing her reindeer movements in the costume that features her visible face topped with a reindeer head. Along with her colleagues, she keeps returning to the original TV show in an attempt to faithfully mimic her character's line readings and move with the feeling of that stop-motion animation.
For the performer, a highlight of the show is her duet with Hermey, a misfit elf, on "We're a Couple of Misfits," a song that underscores the production's anti-bullying campaign. (For information, visit http://www.pacer.org/bullying/about .)
Another of her favorite moments is when another young reindeer, Clarice, calls Rudolph "cute," despite his shiny nose. "I'm cute, I'm c-u-t-e," is a line Miller-Crews loves saying, as her voice and her character's body fly away. "That's the first time he ever flies. That's probably my favorite line."
Ask her about flying, and the actor's enthusiasm soars through the phone line. "Oh my gosh, that is so fun," she says. "I've never flown in a show before. I don't know if this is true of other people, but I've always dreamed of flying. It's kind of like every childhood dream is coming true with this show."
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'Rudolph' the musical
P A musical version of the popular 1964 stop-motion-animated television classic tours Salt Lake City.
When • 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20; 1, 4 and 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21; and 1 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 22
Where • Capitol Theatre, 50 W. 200 South, Salt Lake City
Tickets • $37.50-$60 (plus $7-$8 in ticketing and facility fees); 801-355-2787 or arttix.org
More • The tour includes a campaign supporting PACER's National Bullying Prevention Center, a national nonprofit based in Minneapolis. The organization's website has a Rudolph-themed "shine bright" landing page with tools for parents and educators to use Rudolph's story to help celebrate diversity during the holiday season.