Josh Beadle loves all the standard holiday classic plays and movies — but he’s especially partial to “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.”
“It’s become a cult classic for us here in Waukegan,” said Beadle, who directs the play at Three Brothers Theatre, which is opening Dec. 3. Beadle adapted the show from a bad movie, he said. The family-friendly play features Martian and Earthling children, some crazy astronauts and a kidnapped Santa Claus, and runs Fridays and Saturdays through Dec. 18.
“We usually fill the house with this show,” said Beadle, executive director of the theater.
“We’re always talking about it. It doesn’t matter what season it is. We talk about how fun it is to perform it. It’s obviously fun to entertain audiences, but it’s also fun to do this show. You can let loose,” he said.
The movie version is from the 1960s, and Beadle said, “It’s regularly called the worst movie ever.” That’s in part because of the not-so-special special effects. “The plot line is fair enough,” he said. The king of Mars notices the children are feeling apathetic, so he decides they need some holiday cheer. He learns about Santa Claus on Earth and travels there to abduct him, and two Earthling children. One of the Martians attempts to sabotage the plan.
The movie was made during the Cold War and alludes to the Russians possibly kidnapping Santa. Beadle eliminated that reference when creating the 70-minute play.
The play ends well. “Things get wrapped up with a little bow really quickly and they send Santa back,” Beadle said.
Beadle’s adaptation could be called a parody of the movie. “We made choices within the production to embellish certain things. For example, the actors in the original movie really try hard to be Martians. Our actors are doing that, too, but we’re also pushing the comedic element of it,” Beadle said.
“There’s a scene in the Thunder Forest of Mars where the king of the Martians goes to a sage to get advice about why the children are unhappy. We have a series of sound effects of thunder, which are perfectly cued to interrupt the king every time he speaks,” said Beadle.
This is the fifth time Three Brothers has produced the show for the holiday season. “We have mostly a new cast this year, which is great because they offer some new ideas and interpretations of the characters,” Beadle said.
Two Earthling kids are played by Gwennie Cole of Gurnee and Dani Brankin of North Chicago. “Gwennie was in our production of ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.’ I knew she’d be able to tackle this part,” Beadle said.
The two Martian children are played by Beadle’s daughter, Julia Waelder, who just appeared in “Night of the Living Dead,” at Warren Newport High School in Gurnee, and her friend, Logan Allgauer-Husko, also a Warren High School student. Both are several years older than the Martian children in the play, who are 11.
“In years past we tended to cast younger children — but this year, we wanted to go a little older to gain a new perspective,” Beadle said.
For example, Brankin added something new to the scene when Santa Claus arrives on Mars and is introduced to a Martian mom. “Dani just naturally walked behind Santa Claus and peeked his head around the side — and it was perfect, so we added it in as a gag. That’s something an older child would think of,” Beadle said.
In the show, a news anchor reveals to Earth that the Martians have abducted Santa Claus. Astronauts talked to the news anchor about saving Santa.
“The lighting fades. We see the rocket take off, and the rocket is made out of dryer vent materials and it’s about 3-foot-long and is attached to a stick,” said Beadle. It’s what he calls a “campy scene” in the show.
Costumes will be different this year.
“In the past, we fabricated things out of cat litter containers and cardboard and what not. I’m not sure what the changes will be, but to be frank, we have used a lot of the costume elements for past showings and the costumes have reached the end of their lives,” Beadle said.
Santa Claus will wear the traditional red suit and there’s also a polar bear in the show who chases the children. Playing that part of the mean polar bear will be David Motley, the City of Waukegan’s director of marketing and public relations.
“The show is absolutely fun for the children and there are more than enough jokes sprinkled in for adults to enjoy it as well,” Beadle said. “This is a great show to end the year on, to come out and have some fun and for everyone to enjoy each other’s company and just laugh.”
‘Santa Claus Conquers the Martians’
When: 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, Dec. 3-18
Where: Three Brothers Theatre, 221 Genesee St., Waukegan
Tickets: $15-$20
Information: 224-419-4325, threebrotherstheatre.com
Sheryl DeVore is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.
