One of my favorite memories as a child during Christmas time was watching Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer on TV, which came on either before or after Frosty the Snowman and A Charlie Brown Christmas. So , I was thrilled that The Red Curtain Theatre in Conway brought to life RUDOLPH THE PARTICULAR RED-NOSED REINDEER JR THE MUSICAL, to Staples Auditorium at Hendrix College Dec. 10 & 11, 16-18. The characters that I remembered throughout my childhood danced and pranced onstage to a very appreciative crowd.
With music plus lyrics by Johnny Marks and script adaptation simply by Robert Penola, RUDOLPH THE PARTICULAR RED-NOSED REINDEER JR THE MUSICAL is about being born different and not necessarily fitting in with standard society. Even though Rudolph (Miles Watkins) has excellent potential in his reindeer abilities, he will be ostracized because of his glowing nose by Santa (Nola Glueck), the other reindeer, and even by his parents Donner (Weston Newman) plus Mrs. Donner (Ansley Sherman). Rudolph runs away and makes friends with Hermey the Dentist (Connor Biship) and Yukon Cornelius (Leah Fimple). While running from the Bumble (Eli Halter), they land on an island full of other outcasted misfits, who just want to be loved simply by children on Christmas day. Rudolph realizes he needs to go back home where he belongs plus promises that he will tell Santa about them. When he gets back again, he finds out that their 
parents have been missing, and Rudolph goes to save them from Bumble. And if that isn’t enough, a blizzard hits, forcing Santa in order to make some serious decisions about Xmas. When Rudolph comes back after the rescue mission, Santa claus decides that his shiny nose is usually just what he needs to guide his sleigh through the particular blustering snowstorm. Then how the reindeers loved him…… and you know how the rest associated with the song goes.
It is always impressive exactly how Red Drape can corral so many kids into a show. Directed by Savannah Gunyula, with music direction from Kent Britton and choreography by Christina Munoz Madsen, this team of dream makers made Christmas magic and, I’m sure, lifetime reminiscences for all the young thespians plus their families. Farrah Sherman as Sam the Snowman was the perfect narrator. She led the particular audience through the whole show almost all while within a giant snowman outfit, which was really grandiose. Kudos to the costume team-Liz Parker, Emmalee Dillon, Rebecca Dillon, and Amber Welch. Boss Elf Isaac Abel cracked me up pacing up and down trying to keep the other elves in shape and attempting to make Santa happy, and Raegan Madsen was fun to watch as Young Rudolph with her eagerness and genuine joy of performance.
The musical added in a few more songs that were not in the original tv show, but had been 
great, especially with the extra singing plus ensemble numbers. “We’re the Couple associated with Misfits” has been a cute number along with Rudolph and the dentist; We enjoyed the particular awesome dancing during “We Are Santa’s Elves”; but the one that will touched my heart had been “There’s Always Tomorrow” that Rudolph’s girlfriend Clarice (Molly Goodman) sings to cheer Rudolph up. She was precious!
Before the display, I has been privileged to hear some of Red Curtain’s vocal students perform a small recital outside the theater. It was cold, but worth being able to see what they have been working on. Not only does Red Curtain put on plays, they possess dance classes, vocal classes, acting classes, and piano lessons. They also help their college students if there is an 
audition coming up. For more information on just how you can get you or your children involved with a loving company, visit their website in www.redcurtaintheatre.com . There are still spots available for THE PARTICULAR LITTLE MERMAID JR.
