'Another Night Before Christmas'

Pity the poor playwright and lyricist who attempt to write a Christmas show. There's "A Christmas Carol." And "The Nutcracker."

And "Amahl and the Night Visitors."

There are well-known and beloved movie classics, from "It's a Wonderful Life" to "Miracle on 34th Street" to "Scrooged."

The advantage is, the elements you use are already familiar to your audience.

Unfortunately, that's also the disadvantage.

It's a double-edged sword.

How to be original?

Sean Grennan (book and lyrics) and Leah Okimoto (music), the same creative team who created "Married Alive!" wrote a new musical for the season: "Another Night Before Christmas."

Produced by Gulfshore Playhouse, it's enjoying its Florida premiere at the Norris Center (755 8th Avenue South, Naples). The show runs through Dec. 21.

The premise: Karol, a 30-something social worker, meets a homeless man on the street, and gives him her leftover dinner. Later, he breaks into her Boston apartment. (Apartment # 1225 — get it? — is the same date as Christmas.)

"The Guy," as he's referred to in the program, tries to convince her that he's Santa Claus. And, because Karol is cynical and hates the holidays, he also tries to restore the joy of the season to her.

Ashley Puckett-Gonzales and Brian M. Gonzales star in "Another Night Before Christmas" at the Gulfshore Playhouse Karol, played by Ashley Puckett Gonzales, first thinks he's a burglar, then just a homeless person who needs shelter for the night.

The premise is a little hard to swallow, and "The Guy," as his character is written, is difficult to take at times.

Ever have a pushy salesman try to convince you of something?

Ever have a guy at a party try too hard to convince you that he's Mr. Wonderful, so he inundates you with bad jokes and impressions and just makes you wind up disliking him even more?

That's kind of what this play felt like for me.

(I know, I know. If that guy's really Santa, then I'm getting coal in my stocking this year.)

It wasn't the actor's fault (a talented Brian M. Gonzales, who is also Ms. Gonzalez's husband off-stage.) It was the lines he's stuck with.

LAURA RICHARDSON / SPECIAL TO FLORIDA WEEKLY Brian M. Gonzales as Santa. He has to say things such as, "I'm not husky. I'm luscious."

He thinks they should remake "Miracle on 34th Street" and have George Clooney play him.

He not only has to do a soft shoe, but also Moonwalk. (Does anyone Moonwalk anymore? Astronauts don't even moon walk!) He also has to perform hip-hop moves and sing "The Big Guy's in the house."

Santa, I hate to say — or at least, The Guy who claims to be Santa — is sort of a wise-ass and kinda obnoxious. He tries much too hard to jolly her.

The show's heart is in the right place, but its material, for the most part, falls flat.

The songs, unfortunately, aren't all that memorable.

One showed promise. It's about Karol's desire to kill Bing Crosby because she's so sick of hearing his version of "White Christmas." (Song titles aren't included in the program.)

And the two harmonize nicely, especially when they're singing a duet about the Christmas moon.

But the show drags. There's the requisite history about the origins of Santa and the various names by which he's known. There's the complaint about how the Christmas season seems to begin earlier and earlier each year. There's the nagging phone call from the parents.

There are some sparks, though.

A renegade alarm system continually malfunctions by calling her by a different incorrect name each time. It's a running joke throughout the show.

One of the evening's biggest laughs occurred when Karol expresses surprise that Santa's elves have a union. And The Guy/Santa says: "Please! I'm not Wal-Mart."

And then there's a moment when The Guy says to Karol: "You feel what a lot of people feel: that it's happening somewhere else for someone else." I wish Mr. Grennan had thought to mine that thought a little deeper, because he hit a rich vein there.

The ending — which I won't give away — contains a transformation that's a little too much of a leap to take.

I will say this, though: it does pack an emotional wallop.

But it sure felt like a long time getting there, like someone who overtells the leadup to a joke, diluting the punchline. At times I felt it might've made a better "Saturday Night Live" skit than a twohour show.

Curtis Lee Jones provides the set, a solid apartment with upscale furniture, and Jacqueline Morelisse's costumes help Santa look like a homeless man and Karol look like the uptight person she is.

The musical accompaniment (piano by Justin Hatchimonji and drums) was good, though sometimes drowned out the singers.

The playhouse's producing artistic director, Kristen Coury, directed the show. I wish she'd made it a little edgier, and had directed Mr. Gonzalez to come across a little softer, not like a guy at a bar giving you the hard sell.

She picked the play when it was just newborn, based upon seeing it at a reading. (I suspect it might work better in a more intimate setting.)

But, the small audience at the Norris Center loved it, and was very appreciative.

So maybe Ms. Coury knows her audience after all.

If you dislike cute Christmas shows, my advice is: stay home, drink some eggnog (spiked or not) and watch "Bad Santa."

But if cute is your thing, this just may be the new jolly Christmas show you've been looking for.

If you go

>>What: "Another Night Before Christmas" >>Where: The Norris Center,

755 8th Avenue South, Naples >>When: through Dec. 21 >>Cost: $30 to $45 with special $10 rush

tickets sold one hour before the

performance, if available

>>Info: Call (866) 811-4111 or go to

www.GulfshorePlayhouse.org