Photo Credit: Cathy Cunningham

We’ve been making our holiday entertainment rounds since returning from Thailand and tonight was Athena’s most interactive experience. We went to A Snow White Christmas at Laguna Playhouse in Laguna Beach and Athena was clapping and singing near her seat the entire night. A Snow White Christmas is a musical show based on the fairytale with pop culture references thrown in. It’s an interactive production where audience participation, including that of children, is strongly encouraged. The show encourages children and adults to interact with the performers and the adults get the pop culture references and subtle jokes. While there was very little reference to Christmas, as the name implies, we were clapping, yelling and laughing from our seats all evening.

The show follows the fairytale of Snow White with a few changes. The Wicked Queen (Marina Sirtis) is the queen of North Hollywood. She’s hoping to marry Prince Harry (James Royce Edwards) of Hermosa Beach and join the two kingdoms, but the prince is hoping to meet and fall in love with his childhood friend, Snow White (Lindsay Pearce).

Photo Credit: Cathy Cunningham

The character we see most often is the court jester Muddles (Jonathan Meza), who is helping the prince find his love. Muddles is hilarious and moves around on stage and off, interacting with the audience. Although the production is scripted, there is lots of personal audience interaction that changes it up. Muddles is likable by everyone in the audience. Kids enjoyed his animated behavior and adults got his jokes and bubbly personality.

Athena loved that the seven dwarfs were all played by kids. Their actions were more like hers, making them more relatable. All of the small jokes were a big hit with the audience as well.

One of the most memorable scenes was when Snow White was in the forest and wild creates danced around her to the song, Thriller. The dancing was great but it wasn’t too scary to make Athena upset. The same can be said about the Wicked Queen. She was more funny than scary but still remained true to the role. She was quick-witted and caught many of the people in the audience off guard with her playful insults.

Photo Credit: Cathy Cunningham

Any scene where Snow White sang was notable. Her voice was exceptional and I could have listened to her all night. Watch for the YMCA scene as well. You just can’t help but sing along.

If you’re looking for a holiday production full of Christmas spirit, this isn’t it. With the exception of singing part of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, there is no hint of Christmas in sight. If you’re looking for a fun family night that is entertaining for all ages then this is your show. There were several parts of the production that made me laugh out loud and the entire audience participated. Athena didn’t sit in her sit; instead, she danced and sang in front of it from start to finish, and the best part was that it was encouraged.

If you’re in the area, you can still catch the show until December 27th. It might not be a holiday production but it will fill you with joy and happy memories.