INTERVIEW: Leave Scrooge and those Nutcrackers behind because ‘Edelweiss’ is back
Photo: Edelweiss, starring Andrew R. Butler, Derek Smith, MiMi Scardulla, Ellen Winter, Rebeca Miller and Shannon Holt, returns to New York City for the holiday season. Photo courtesy of the On the Rocks Theatre Company / Provided by Everyman Agency with permission.
How’s this for a Christmas show? The curtain rises at a bar-turned-theater and … Santa Claus is dead.
Enter the world of Edelweiss, alternative holiday fare brought to the Soho Playhouse’s Huron Club by On the Rocks Theatre Company.
Now, back to Santa being dead. The North Pole is in shock and disarray. Elves don’t know what to do. Mrs. Claus has skipped town. Reindeer are running amok in the street. One thing is for certain: Old Saint Nick needs to be properly eulogized, and that’s where Edelweiss enters the picture. The show is a holiday-pageant-turned-memorial, according to press notes, put on by a group of elves and a reindeer.
Unlike those two-hour Nutcrackers, this one runs a sleek 45 minutes, but there are limited chances to catch the humorous Christmas cabaret. Performances run Dec. 13-21.
Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails Dakota Rose, director of the piece and co-writer with Christopher Ford. Andrew R. Butler is responsible for the music. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
What prompted the return of Edelweiss for this Christmas season?
The timing was finally right! For the past few years my co-writer, Christopher, and I were pretty consumed with our Ars Nova show, The Beastiary, and Andrew Butler, who writes the music for Edelweiss, has been in a very long and impressive run of Stereophonic off-Broadway, on Broadway and on the West End. Andrew happened to be returning from London just before the holiday season this year, and the three of us were delighted at the prospect of “getting the gang back together.”
Are there changes for the 2025 edition?
The gist of the show is the same — a motley crew of four elves and a reindeer throw a makeshift memorial slash cabaret amidst the chaos and general turmoil befallen the North Pole after the sudden demise of Santa Claus. But it’s been a pretty long, intense and, in many ways, brutal five years in the world since we last put up Edelweiss, and I think certain songs and moments in the show will definitely speak to that in a new way. There’s lots to mourn in the world, and it feels more fitting than ever to bring people together to reflect on that and find joy and connection. And there’s some pretty good new jokes, too.
For those who have never seen the show, what are they in for?
They’re in for a very silly, slightly morbid, surprisingly moving 45-minute show with really wonderful original music, a stellar and hilarious cast, and it’s in a bar (drinks available throughout the show!) dripping in Christmas décor like you’ve never seen. Or we just like to say it’s like hanging at a really fun, festive holiday pop-up bar with a darkly funny, sneakily poignant show in the middle.
When helping to create the show, were you trying to offer an alternative Christmas story for the holiday season?
Yes, we wanted to make something fresh with a new spin, but I actually think in many ways it’s a classic Christmas story. I was one of those weird kids who maybe believed in Santa Claus a little too long — it was the pure magic of Santa and the season that really captured my imagination. And I think Edelweiss is a sort of grownup take on that. We wanted to make a Christmas show that acknowledged the harshness and challenges of the world we live in now, but how even in the midst of all that there is a way to find and make magic this time of year. It’s maybe a bit cheesy, but I think that’s what any good Christmas story is all about.
What’s it like to collaborate with Christopher Ford?
How much time you got? Christopher and I have now been creating shows together for almost 20 years! We are both very visual, and much of our work starts from design. Chris is an incredible designer, artisan, sewer, craftsperson, builder (the list goes on), which lends each of our productions a very unique hand-crafted quality that could only exist in an On The Rocks show. ForEdelweiss, all the costumes are designed and built by him — they feel straight out of our weird, stylized take on the North Pole — and he’s crafted these amazing giant edelweiss that adorn the space making the holiday décor truly special and unlike anything.
Are you generally a fan of the holiday season?
Yea, I’m an unabashed fan, and I love that our show is a holiday tradition for folks. We are so excited to bring it back and hope to share it with many more people.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Edelweiss, written by Christopher Ford and Dakota Rose, plays Dec. 13-21 at Soho Playhouse’s Huron Club. Click here for more information and tickets.
