Alan Muraoka (“Sesame Street,” Avenue Q), is at the helm of The Nice List, which features book and lyrics by Phoebe Kreutz (The Pizza Underground, Awesomer and Awesomer), six original songs by Gary Adler (Drama Desk nominated for Altar Boyz,), choreography by the incomparable Michael Mindlin (Hamilton, Aladdin), toys, gadgets and props by the propstar herself Kathy Fabian (A Christmas Carol, Pretty Woman) with costumes by Sesame Street’s designer himself Brian Hemesath and all under the watchful eye and guidance of the general manager Joey Monda who is a partner in Sing Out Louise! Productions (Hadestown).
Niceness makes the world-go-round and The Nice List gives us a jingletastic look inside Santa’s workshop as he puts his elves in charge of Christmas while he checks in on his mall “ambassadors.” The elves set out to show they are up to the task but find themselves in over their candy canes until Santa returns and puts everything in order just in time for the big Holiday.
Heading up the cast as Santa Claus “the main man of the North Pole” is James Monroe Iglehart (Aladdin, Hamilton, “Kimmy Schmidt”). He is joined by a talented team of elves starting with the head elf of the workshop “Chestnut” played by Telly Leung (Aladdin, Allegiance). Santa announces that he will be “out-of-town” for a little longer than a flurry so roles and responsibilities will have to be shuffled this year finding “Crumpet” and “Raisin” in charge of the Naughty and Nice List. Checking it not once but twice is Julia Mattison (Godspell) as the “questionably” positive Crumpet while Ann Harada (Avenue Q, Seussical) as Raisin leans more toward the naughty side. As the elves near the big day inventory backups, pressure and tensions run high we find “Toot Toot” Cookie, portrayed by Jennifer Barnhart (Avenue Q, “Sesame Street”), Nick Kohn dolling around as Fruitcake (Avenue Q, The Buddy Holly Story) and Gumdrop stuffing his way through the mayhem played by Don Darryl Rivera (Iago in Broadway’s Aladdin) running low on Christmas spirit. How will all the Christmas chaos come to a celebratory conclusion? Rest assured upon Santa’s return lessons are learned and “The Nice List” will be saved leaving us all with the feeling that we should live our lives like it’s “Always a Holiday” every day.
This special glimpse into the North Pole has been provided by Masie Productions in partnership with Starhawk Productions who have assembled a diverse cast from Broadway and Television to tell an original heartwarming Christmas tale with Santa’s magical workshop like we have never-seen-before.
Elliott & Cathy Masie (Masie Productions) are producers in both the theatre and the business learning worlds. Their Learning CONSORTIUM brings together the leading global corporations for collaboration on the use of technology for workforce skills. They have produced Broadway shows including: Kinky Boots, The PROM, Godspell, Allegiance, An American in Paris, The Play that Went Wrong and SpongeBob The Musical. Elliott is on the Board of Trustees of Williamstown Theater Festival.
Starhawk Productions is a Broadway Producer located in San Diego. We present new work, with a focus on musicals, which celebrate the power of the human spirit. Our most successful production to date, Come From Away, premiered at the La Jolla Playhouse and received 7 Tony nominations in 2017, with Chris Ashley winning “Best Musical Director” and we received an Olivier Award in the U.K. for “Best Musical” in 2019. Allegiance, A New American Musical made its debut at The Old Globe in 2012 and premiered on Broadway in 2015-16. Their current production, Diana opened for previews on Broadway in March 2020 and will return when Broadway reopens. Meanwhile, the theater production has been filmed for Netflix for release in 2020. Working Girl is in development.
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia has appeared in the films Wolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman. She stars in and served as Executive Producer for the short independent films Hide and Seek, Balancing Act, Rom-Com Gone Wrong, Belongingness andWhen the World was Young. She is also the Executive Producer for The Cactus, The Language Lesson, The Writer and Cream and 2 Shugahs.
Backstage Pass with Lia Chang 