Crown Uptown’s Christmas show described as “Saturday Night Live with heart”

As far as Christine Tasheff was concerned, there had been something missing from the holiday entertainment landscape in Wichita for several years: A show at the Crown Uptown Theatre.

“There hasn’t been a full-on Christmas show at the Crown in ages,” the Wichita theater veteran said. “I always remember it in days gone by it was kind of the grande dame of Christmas shows in town with the big stage. It was exciting to be involved with it.”

With J Basham, who purchased the Crown earlier this year, Tasheff is co-producer of “A Very Special Crown Christmas,” which opens Nov. 22 and continues for 19 performances through Dec. 28.

Tasheff collaborated with Patty Reeder and Kyle Vespestad, directors of the show, in assembling a six-person cast.

“One thing I always enjoyed as a producer — and it comes with age, too — is knowing a lot of people and bringing them together in a package you think is pretty incredible,” she said. “That’s how I feel about the cast I was able to get for this.”

Cast in the show are John Bates, Jenny Mitchell, Ryan Schafer, Cindy Summers, Madi White and Vespestad, who is also choreographer.

Tasheff had already worked with Bates, Summers and Vespestad, and said she’d admired Mitchell’s work for years.

As for the two younger cast members, “Madi and Ryan I feel like are the next generation of upcoming, talented individuals, and a dream to work with.”

Rapport was a big factor in deciding who to cast, Tasheff said.

“Besides the talent, I wanted six people I knew could work together and have fun and celebrate the holidays together,” she said. “That’s as important as anything.”

“They’re as much fun backstage as on stage,” Vespestad added.

“A Very Special Crown Christmas” is a revue best described as “’Saturday Night Live’ with heart,” both Tasheff and Vespestad said.

“It’s definitely something that will make people forget their troubles for a couple of hours and sit back and laugh,” said Vespestad, who had been half of the “Kyle & Monte” Christmas shows at Roxy’s Downtown for the past three years, which are taking a hiatus this year but will return in 2020.

“There’s some real showstoppers musically as well as some laugh-out-loud comedy bits,” Tasheff said.

Vespestad and Shafer wrote most of the sketches in the show.

“We drew from each person’s talent and what they could do,” Vespestad said. “We kind of know each other well enough to know what each person can do well.”

Ben Balleau is the show’s musical director and has stunning arrangements of the Carpenters’ “Merry Christmas Darling” and “O Holy Night,” Vespestad and Tasheff said.

Summers said she’s worked on several revues and several smaller-scale holiday shows through the years, but nothing like “A Very Special Crown Christmas.”

“I’ve worked with everybody on stage at one point or another. This is just a collaboration of all these wonderfully talented people,” Summers said. “You just know that everybody’s got your back.”

‘A VERY SPECIAL CROWN CHRISTMAS’

When: 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, Nov. 22-23 and Friday, Nov. 29; 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays (except Christmas) from Dec. 4-28; 2 p.m. Sundays, Dec. 15 and 22; dinner begins at 6:15 p.m. for evening shows, 12:15 p.m. Sundays

Menu: Smoked pot roast and turkey carving station. Cash bar. Desserts available.

Where: Crown Uptown Theatre, 3207 E. Douglas

Tickets: $33-$38, by phone at 316-612-7696 or online at crownuptown.com