A Christmas Held Captive is a tongue-in-cheek musical farce with songs by Robert J. Sherman and Christopher M. Dawson and a book by Lavina Dawson and Michael A. Dawson. The show was directed by Oliver Muirhead. Lighting was by Robert Duncan.

Storyline

It's Christmas Eve Day and Santa's Sleigh has been impounded by Constable Scrooge. Without the Sleigh, there can be no Christmas and there's only one key to the North Pole Impound and Constable Scrooge has swallowed it. Once Christmas Eve passes, Scrooge's plot to destroy the holiday will become manifest and Christmas will be ruined and Santa disgraced all because of Scrooge's unrequited love for Mrs. Santa. The nerdly Drummer Boy comes up with a plan to use the Heimlich Maneuver on Scrooge and recover the key. He becomes Sugar Plum Fairy's hero in the process.

Musical Numbers==

"Bad Santa Rap" (Santa, Elves)

"Rock the World To the Ground" (Constable Scrooge)

"Sugar Plum King" (Sugar Plum)

"Good Deed Defenders" (Little Drummer Boy, Elves)

"Mrs. Santa's Blues" (Mrs. Santa, Elves)

"It's Christmas Time" (Elves, Chorus)

==Additional Musical Numbers for the Film

"Let's Go A'Christmassing" (Elves)

"Gringa the Green Nosed Elf" (Santa, Elves)

"Love Turns the Key (Santa)

"Elf Madness" (Elves)

About the Show

A Christmas Held Captive premiered at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute in December 1986 and ran from December 17, 1986 to February 6, 1987 at the Beverly Hills Playhouse, a 99 seat, non-equity theatre, near, but not in Beverly Hills, California. The show was written in the style of a British Pantomime and was lauded by the Beverly Hills Courier for it's quick wit and fresh songwriting style. The songwriters were 18 and 16 years old respectively when the piece was written.

The Characters Tell the Story

Mrs. C.

-Santa’s devoted, but dissatisfied wife. She understands her husband’s pressures so she doesn’t bother him with hers. Instead she suffers in silence. Ask anybody! Ask--

The Sugar Plum Fairy

-a ditzy, dizzy, love-starved ballerina and confidant of Mrs.C.’s who helps search for “A hero who will save the day...and rescue Santa’s sleigh!”-- and it wouldn’t hurt if he were good looking too! But instead he’s--

The Little Drummer Boy

-a computer nerd (without a computer) and without social graces. However this square peg does fall upon the solution to all their problems. Actually he sets the trap for--

Constable Scrooge

-who is the villain who impounded Santa’s Sleigh in the first place. For years he’d been seeking revenge against the man who married his one true love. That man is--

Santa Claus

-a Hell’s Angel of a Saint, repressed rap singer who’d just as soon ride a Harley Davidson as he would a sleigh. And that might not be a bad idea ‘cause it’s Christmas Eve and--

The Elves

-have made the toys, wrapped the presents, still the sleigh is no where to be seen. No one’s told Santa. It would break the big guy’s heart but that doesn’t change the grizzly truth. He can’t deliver presents without a sleigh!

Trivia

The show's lyricist, Robert J. Sherman is the son of Academy Award winning songwriter Robert B. Sherman and grandson of Tin Pan Alley songwriter, Al Sherman. As a result of the show's premiere, Sherman was invited, at 18 years old, to join BMI as one of its youngest members.

Christopher Dawson, who wrote the music for the show was only 16 at the time the show first premiered, the youngest person in the show's cast or crew.

The Show premiered at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute.

Christopher Dawson and Michael Dawson are brothers. Lavina Dawson is their mother.

There were many personal connections between the Dawsons and Robert Sherman. Robert Sherman and Michael Dawson were both first semester Freshman at the University of Southern California when the play premiered. They were both inducted into the Tau Gamma Chapter of Tau Epsilon Phi Fraternity and were roommates. Christopher Dawson was a senior at Beverly Hills High School at the time of the play's premiere and was the Drum Major of the high school Marching Band. Robert Sherman also served as Drum Major of the same marching band one year earlier. Dawson was Sherman's Drum Major protégé. Both Robert and Christopher were Tuba Players and section leaders of the Tuba Section (special designation: "Tuba Master") in their respective Senior years. In the fall of 1987 Christopher joined both Michael Dawson and Robert Sherman at U.S.C. where Michael and Christopher's father (and Lavina Dawson's husband) worked as a full professor of Psychology. Michael Dawson's major was Computer Science. Robert Sherman's major was Cinema Television and Christopher Dawson's major was Music. Christopher is an award winning Jazz pianist. Robert Sherman was often referred to as "The Third Dawson Brother". Michael Dawson was known for his acerbic wit.

Lavina Dawson conceived the show and brought her improvisational comic 18 year old son, Michael Dawson on as co-writer to add comedy.

Lavina Dawson has written several TV movies of the week including A Time To Triumph staring Patty Duke and Joseph Bologna. She is also known for her work as a character actress in the 1960s and 1970s.

Michael Dawson came up with the idea of Santa singing a rap song.

Ten years after the show's premiere, songwriter, turned film producer, Robert J. Sherman and Redstring Productions, Inc. acquired the rights to do a movie version of the show. Although it was never made, letters of intent were receieved from Karen Black to play "Mrs. Santa", Sandra Bernhard to play "Sugar Plum Fairy" and Jack Wild to play "The Little Drummer Boy]].

External links

Redstring Productions

Music World Corporation

Oliver Muirhead

Robert J. Sherman

Lavina Dawson