True to holiday cabaret tradition, Chicago actor and singer Christine Bunuan fills her solo-show stocking with songs ranging from naughty to nice, sardonic to sentimental. But what Bunuan also offers in "Christmas at Christine's," the first holiday show at Silk Road Rising, is her perspective as a child of Filipino immigrants. When you're raised by people who arrived in the United States with $500 in their pockets, the holidays are bound to focus on love, not lucre.
Bunuan, a veteran of past ensemble revues at Silk Road as well as of "Avenue Q" at the Mercury Theater (where she played Christmas Eve), brings a mix of sass, soul and sweetness to her songs and stories, directed by J.R. Sullivan and with Ryan Brewster at the piano. She also accompanies herself on ukulele with charming insouciance on Nat King Cole's "The Happiest Christmas Tree."
It has its contrivances, to be sure — the "late" entrance with Bunuan dashing in, shopping bags and cellphone in hand, feels a little shopworn as an opening gambit, even with her determinedly cheerful delivery of "We Need a Little Christmas." But as she settles into the groove, the show takes on richer shadings. And given the current national mood, a show that celebrates diversity (Bunuan's husband, fellow actor Sean Patrick Fawcett, is Jewish) and the can-do spirit of those who pursue impossible dreams provides some needed catharsis.
Not all of Bunuan's selections are holiday songs. Indeed, she sings "The Impossible Dream" from "Man of La Mancha" as a tribute to her father's indomitable spirit. (From that $500, her father became an engineer in the U.S. while her parents raised three children and now own two homes.) Her years-in-the-making relationship with Fawcett, which began when both were undergrads, gets a hat tip with "Mr. Snow" from "Carousel" — he played the title character (who of course has nothing to do with seasonally appropriate precipitation) in a college production that they both worked on.
Part of the show serves also as tribute to her extended family in the Philippines, whose images fill an onstage photo album and are reflected in grainy projections. The death of an uncle at Christmastime reminds us of the fragility of life and the need to appreciate loved ones when they're here.
Bunuan's own Catholic faith lies upon the show with an easy grace, mixed with Filipino traditions such as the "parol," a star-shaped lantern recalling the Star of Bethlehem and the rollicking Tagalog holiday song "Ang Pasko Ay Sumapit." The Nativity scene on a downstage table serves as a poignant reminder that the first Christmas story was about a couple like Bunuan's parents, far from their own home, trying to make a new family in the most difficult of circumstances.
There's also a touch of the macabre in Jim Rusk's twisted "Pretty Little Dolly" (made popular by Mona Abboud) in which the inventory of what the longed-for toy can do grows increasingly disturbing. Bunuan's story of performing in the Goodman's "A Christmas Carol" with a sick-to-his-tummy Tiny Tim recalls the late Spalding Gray's story of a vomiting Wally Webb in "Our Town."
But those mild trips to the gross side are balanced by tributes to friendship, including "You've Got a Friend in Me" and, as a hat tip to her "Avenue Q" role, "The More You Ruv Someone." There's also "Moishe Baby," a Jewish-themed parody of "Santa Baby" created by Bunuan, Brewster, Fawcett, Silk Road founder Jamil Khoury, and Nikki Fawcett.
The show includes a guest artist each night on one number. On opening night, Bunuan's childhood friend and Chicago cabaret star Johanna McKenzie Miller belted out "O Holy Night." When she hit the lyrics "His law is love and his gospel is peace," it provided a stirring balm for troubled times. Bunuan's low-key but impassioned delivery of Peter, Paul and Mary's menorah song, "Light One Candle," also carried an emotional punch.
Silk Road Rising's determined ecumenical approach to religion has been apparent since its founding. It seems wholly appropriate that their first holiday show should celebrate immigrant success, family loyalty and friendship. Bunuan's show has its self-conscious moments, to be sure. But Bunuan brings beguiling wit and warmth that transcends cheap sentiment. And where else are you going to hear "Silent Night" in Tagalog onstage this year?
Kerry Reid is a freelance critic.
This sweet, lighthearted holiday cabaret, written and performed by Christine Bunuan, weaves together holiday songs, some familiar, some not, with Bunuan’s recollections of Christmases past. Bunuan has a lovely voice and a winning onstage rapport with her laconic accompanist, Ryan Brewster, and her song selection, though mild, is diverting (a Jewish parody of “Santa Baby,” called “Moishe Baby,” is one the high points) . But it’s her deceptively simple stories about life in theater or visiting her extended family in the Philippines that make this show a cut above your average holiday revue. It helps that Bunuan has a very likable, relaxed stage presence and a born raconteur’s ability to make even the most mundane tale riveting. —Jack Helbig
SILK ROAD RISING’S CHRISTMAS AT CHRISTINE’S REVIEW – ALL HEART
Trust Silk Road Rising to make its very first holiday show – Christmas at Christine’s -- not only multi-cultural but free of schmaltz and glitter too. Directed by J.R. Sullivan, Christine Bunuan’s 90-minute meander through her own Christmases Past nudges her audience towards a more meaningful Christmas Present. Bunuan, a Filipino American actress married to a Jewish American actor, offers up a cabaret-style pastiche of songs, snapshots, chit-chat and reflections about her favorite holiday.
Silk Road CHRISTMAS AT CHRISTINA'S
A personal touch
The one-woman show is somewhat disjointed; Bunuan is a vibrant performer, not a skilled storyteller. But her hodgepodge is so personal that the bumpy style eventually becomes part of the fun. With no performer in sight as the opening lights come up on Silk Road Rising’s intimate stage, music director/accompanist Ryan Brewster stalls with a few bars of “Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.” Finally, late-running Bunuan bursts onstage, laden with shopping bags and plenty of adrenaline. She is then interrupted by a desperate call from her out-of-town mother who can’t remember her email password. Midway through the show, Bunuan invites a visiting friend to sing an exquisite rendition of “Oh Holy Night.” Like so much else that happens onstage, the reunion of these actresses is palpably joyful.
Many families make the season
Family bonds are critical to this Chicago-based actress, whether it’s her close-knit Catholic Filipino kin, beloved husband Sean or the cast of a show. Touchingly, she describes her parents who arrived from the Philippines with a mere $500 and used a rolling TV cart as a crib for their infant daughter. Christmas memories, sometimes enhanced by projected photos, do not include lavish presents or decor; instead they are anecdotes of family and friends with deep connections. When Bunuan sings the Tagalog song, “Ang Pasko Ay Sumapit,” she reinforces the unifying impact of Christmas carols in any language.
Bunuan demonstrates her affection for Sean’s Jewish heritage by filling a Hanukkah menorah with candles and gamely chanting the Hebrew blessing, an annual ritual in their home. Bunuan shares another holiday tradition -- a backstage potluck meal between matinee and evening performances of Goodman Theatre’s A Christmas Carol. One year, she explains, Tiny Tim ate far too much and later “tossed his cookies” at the Cratchits’ dinner table onstage.
Unexpected emotion
Petit, buoyant and charismatic, Bunuan delivers a topnotch performance. Brewster’s accompaniment is fluid and precise. Yeaji Kim’s festive set – suggesting a contemporary condo dressed for Christmas – leaves Bunuan enough room to maneuver freely. At times, Christmas at Christine’s rambling format wears thin. Ultimately, however, the show makes its case: the holiday season is about relationships. When she invites everyone to join her in “Silent Night,” she’s built such a strong bond with her audience that the response is immediate. Hearing Silk Road Rising’s small theatre swell with voices, Bunuan is full of unexpected emotion – and so are we.
Recommended for: people of all ages and faiths who want to celebrate the season
Not recommended for: people with Grinch and Scrooge-type attitudes
BROADWAYWORLD - SILK ROAD RISING PRESENTS FIRST-EVER HOLIDAY SHOW CHRISTMAS AT CHRISTINE'S
Silk Road Rising presents their first-ever holiday show with the world premiere of Christmas at Christine's, written and performed by Christine Bunuan and directed by J.R. Sullivan. The production will run December 1st to 23rd, 2016 at Silk Road Rising located at 77 W. Washington St., Lower Level, Chicago, IL, 60602. The Press Opening is Friday, December 2nd at 8:00pm.
This new holiday musical revue puts a Silk Road spin on the Christmas season. Chicago favorite Christine Bunuan invites you into her world with Christmas at Christine's. Journey from California to Chicago to the Philippines to a Catholic-Jewish household, as Christine sings her way through the holiday songbook and a lifetime of yuletide memories.
The creative team for Christmas at Christine's includes Christine Bunuan (Playwright/Actor),J.R. Sullivan (Director), Ryan Brewster (Musical Director), Helen Colleen Lattyak (Stage Manager), Corey Pond (Production Manager), Yeaji Kim (Set and Projections Designer), Kristof Janezic (Lighting Designer and Master Electrician), Katie Vaughters (Costume Designer), Eric Backus (Sound Designer), and Alec Long (Props Master).
About the Artists
Christine Bunuan (Actor/Playwright) is a veteran of the Chicago stage. She earned her BFA in Acting from The Theatre School at DePaul University and has worked ever since. She has been seen on the Silk Road Rising stage in A Silk Road Cabaret: Broadway Sings The Silk Road and Re-Spiced: A Silk Road Cabaret. She was in the first national tour and Chicago sit down company of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (David Stone Productions). Other theatre companies where she has performed include Goodman, Steppenwolf, Chicago Shakespeare, TimeLine, Mercury, Chicago Children's Theatre, Chicago Dramatists, Marriott Lincolnshire, Drury Lane Oakbrook, Mason Street Warehouse, TheatreSquared, and many more. Recently, Christine assistant directed shows at AboutFace and Prologue Theatre, expanding her knowledge of how things work on the other side of the table. She is a proud member of Actors' Equity Association and serves on the Central Regional Board.
J.R. Sullivan (Director) is a director, producer, and writer, having worked in theaters nationwide as well as heading companies as artistic director. He was the Artistic Director of New York's Off-Broadway Pearl Theatre Company, presented with a Drama Desk Award in 2011, where he directed productions of Hard Times, Playboy of the Western World, Widowers' Houses, Biography, The Importance of Being Earnest, Richard II, A Moon for the Misbegotten, and the New York premiere of Wittenberg. Sullivan was the founder and producing director of the New American Theater in northern Illinois, and also served as associate artistic director for the Utah Shakespeare Festival, where he directed productions ranging from Shakespeare toTennessee Williams, including productions of Richard III, Hamlet, Henry V, The Glass Menagerie, and most recently, Amadeus. His work has also been seen in regional theaters nationwide, including the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Theatre X, Philadelphia's Arden Theatre, the Studio Theatre in Washington DC, the Delaware Theatre Company, and the Resident Ensemble Players at the University of Delaware. In Chicago he has directed for Northlight Theatre, American Theatre Company, A Red Orchid Theatre, Live Bait Theatre, Prop Theatre, and the Onyx Theatre. His adaptations of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility, in collaboration with Joseph Hanreddy, have been produced at regional houses nationwide, including Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, the Oregon and Utah Shakespeare festivals, South Coast Repertory Theater, Round House Theatre, People's Light & Theater Company, The Cincinnati Playhouse, and Connecticut Rep.
NEED A LITTLE CHRISTMAS? NORTHSHORE PERFORMER TO PREMIERE NEW HOLIDAY SHOW
Singer and actor Christine Bunuan, whose talents have been seen from Writers' Theatre's stage in Glencoe to Oakbrook's Drury Lane Theatre, is combining her musical talents, heritage, and love of the Christmas season in her world-premiere show, "Christmas at Christine's."
Bunuan's parents immigrated from the Phillipines, and she grew up in a household that combined Filipino Christmas traditions with American values. "Christmas at Christine's" offers a chance for her to combine song and storytelling to create a holiday musical revue for the whole family.
Christine, who played Jasmine in the musical "Aladdin" at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire and was seen on Broadway in Chicago's production of the musical "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee," says she has always wanted to work on an original piece that was "personal, heartfelt and fun." She invites audiences into her world and shares a lifetime of touching holiday memories, from stories about seeing her husband perform in "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" to a time when she had to celebrate Christmas in Florida while on tour.
"I was inspired to write this musical revue to honor the people in my life whose backgrounds and cultures have helped shape so much of my life," she says of her upcoming world-premiere. "Christmas at Christine's" presents her with a chance to share that heritage with an audience, connecting tales of her travels from California to the Philippines and Chicago with a wide array of favorites from the holiday songbook.
These songs are cast in a new light thanks to the life lessons Christine shares along her journey, universalizing her experiences. At a first rehearsal recently, many members of the production team teared up as they themselves remembered their loved ones and holiday traditions.
She explains that her visits to the Philippines "enriched my life" and inspired her to dig deeper into her own heritage. Bunuan's own holiday traditions developed further upon meeting and marrying her husband, a Jewish man. She now affectionately refers to herself as a "Christmas Jew," someone who celebrates Hanukkah as well as Christmas, in keeping with her new family's traditions.
Christine's hope is to spread a message of love through her own yuletide memories. To her, music is a vital way to achieve this. "Music is a huge part of my life," she says. "It's a different way of expressing yourself." The inclusion of holiday standards, love songs, and even some familiar tunes from Broadway allow her to deepen her connection with audiences.
"It's fun to get stuff, but what I really like is figuring out what I can give," Christine says. To her, "Christmas at Christine's," which will premiere at Silk Road Rising in Chicago on December 1st and run through December 23rd, is her gift to audiences this holiday season. "I want to invite people into my home to have a fun time and enjoy being together." Tickets and more information available at www.SilkRoadChristmas.org
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