Stage Review - Sugar Plum Done (Port Angeles Community Players)
Stage Review - Sugar Plum Done
Presented By: Port Angeles Community Players - Port Angeles, WA
Show Run: December 05 - December 21, 2025
Date Reviewed: Saturday, December 6, 2025
Run Time: 2 Hours (including a 15-minute intermission)
Reviewed By: Cathy W. Dodd
What happens when Santa Claus has a mid-life crisis and runs off to Las Vegas to find himself during the holiday season? Mayhem, madness and much fun, that’s what!
The action begins at NPHQ – North Pole Headquarters – as the characters are faced with Christmas being eliminated due to no Santa. The elves, Spritzer, Sprinkles and Spicy, open the show in a delightful way, but Spicy (well played by Zade Harris) is about to retire and knows the rules and also knows that without Santa, the North Pole with all of its eccentric characters will simply disappear. His pronouncement is met with mixed reactions at NPHQ.
The second Mrs. Claus (it’s not clear what happened to the first) is “in her cups” as you might say – i.e., she has a bit of a drinking problem, and while her intentions are good, she doesn’t seem particularly focused on (1) getting Santa back to the North Pole, or (2) remedying the problem. Rudolph, the usual hero in these stories, is nowhere to be found, and Frosty the Snowman has left his new wife, Mona, with “a snowball in the freezer,” if you get my (snow)drift. Enter reindeer, elves, influencers and a Sugar Plum Fairy to the rescue.
The were a number of standout performers in the production I saw. Lisa Vanderheiden, as the Sugar Plum Fairy. She is a delight to watch on stage and her character is key to keeping the plot moving along. Benjamin G. Komar was a fun, if rather misguided, Santa. His song, (It’s not) My Way is not to be missed. Kyle Kurtz made being an influencer almost palatable. He has a good sense of timing and brought the fun, each and every time he was on stage. Sprinkle T Elf, wonderfully played by Jessup Coffin, donned in his ‘sexy’ midriff shirt was quite the elf and got laughs every time he walked on stage. He also has a strong stage voice which was much appreciated since so many others were difficult to hear. As the second Mrs. Clause, Karen Twight was delightful. She didn’t play Mrs. C as a fall-down drunk, but it’s clear her character certainly likes the booze. Karen’s lovely British accent and commanding stage presence are always pleasing to the eye and to the ear. Stephanie Bennett made a lovely Mona Snowperson and her facial reactions onstage were priceless. Sadly, I had difficulty hearing her and missed many ofher lines. Piper Bruch was great as the Transition Elf, helping the audience know where things were headed next. She had a nice way of interacting with the audience. Oh, and the cameraman, played nicely by Zade Harris, had the best line in the whole show at the end.
The rest of the cast shine brightly in their own ways and you can tell they love being on stage. My criticism would be that nearly everyone needs to speak up and enunciate better.
With a cast of thousands, or so it seemed, it can be difficult to wrangle everyone on and off stage. Especially when the majority are youth. Co-directors Melody Todnem and Shannon Cosgrove managed to get it done and done well. In community theatre where you have a lot of actors who may be on the stage for the first time co-mingling with actors with a lot of experience, it takes patience, kindness and a strong love for the art to make it all come together. Todnem and Cosgrove made it all happen.
All in all, set designer Jaymie Crafts, did a great job. The setwas decorated in a festive manner and was delightful. It was very Christmasy and was a plausible NPHQ. The apron of the stage was also incorporated to ‘transport’ the audience to Las Vegas, etc. The costumes should be mentioned as well. April Driesslein did some delightful costuming that made the show just that much more festive. Those who took care of the props (there’s quite a list) did a grand job as well. Wand/phone? What can I say? Brilliant!
So. Does Santa Clause return to save Christmas? Do the elves and reindeer unite to bring in the Yuletide? Does the Sugar Plum Fairy get a role in the 2026 production of The Nutcracker? I guess you will have to wait until December the 25th to find out. Or, better yet, go see Sugar Plum Done while you still can!
Sugar Plum Done is exactly the kind of merry mayhem you hope for when a show asks, “What if Santa bailed on Christmas and headed for Vegas?” The ensemble throws themselves into the fun, keeping the story moving even as chaos swirls around NPHQ. Directors keep the large cast—youth and adults alike—on track with patience and a clear love for theatre, and the festive set and clever costumes add just the right amount of sparkle. . It’s a lighthearted holiday romp that’s as playful as it is spirited—well worth catching before Santa decides to take another vacation.
Sugar Plum Done, presented by the Port Angeles Community Players, runs on stage through December 21. For more information, including ticket availability and sales, visit https://pacommunityplayers.org/.
Photo credit: Belle Robinson
