A musical holiday at Foothills.

Byline: Richard Duckett

As a cast member of the Foothills Theatre Company production of "Holidays at the 'hills," Russell Garrett naturally has to keep an eye on what his fellow performers are doing.

But he does so with a slightly different perspective from the other seven cast members.

Garrett is also the show's director. Not only that, he is also the co-creator and co-writer of "Holidays at the 'hills," which has what could be called its world premiere at Foothills tomorrow (opening day performances at 3 and 7 p.m.) and runs through Dec. 28.

"I have to remind myself that I'm overseeing the show, and then be as sharp as the cast. It's a challenge," Garrett said.

As the artistic director of Foothills, he is also the person responsible for choosing the show. For several years, Foothills staged its own production of "A Christmas Carol." But Garrett, in his fourth season at the helm at Foothills, was never "married" to the production. So this year he's going out on a limb with his own show - and is evidently having a good time with it. "I have enjoyed it. It's a lot of work, but I like being creative."

Garrett's concept is 12 loosely connected segments, all based around the holidays, with lots of holiday music and singing and dancing. "I decided I wanted to do something really different for our theater in December," Garrett said during an interview at Foothills before a recent rehearsal.

"We've never done anything quite like this (for the holidays) where it's just a musical event."

A lot of music. The show includes 55 songs.

Jim Rice, who has served as musical director of a number of Foothills productions over the years, is Garrett's co-collaborator for "Holidays at the 'hills."

"He (Rice) brought a lot of music to me, and I brought a lot of ideas to him," Garrett said.

The show includes a re-creation of a 1960s shindig dance TV show (with people bopping to holiday songs), a song and dance salute to Santa, a medley of winter songs, a scene set at an office party, and songs about New Year's Eve.

"There's a little holidays, a little bit of Hanukkah, a little bit of everything," Garret said. There's a little bit of dialogue, but not much - just enough to set certain situations up. "We tried to keep it as dialogue-light as possible," Garrett said.

"I just felt it was time to do something with music. I wanted to do something with holiday music, but do it in a different way."

The myriad songs and music range from "Angels We Have Heard on High" to "Boogie on Christmas Eve."

Garrett had another purpose in mind with the show.

"I wanted to also use several people that I've worked with before. Everyone in the show is someone I've worked with in the past."

Most of them will be well known to Foothills theatergoers: Trish Aponte, Adam Estes, Andrew Giordano, Rebekah Jacobs, Merrill Peiffer, Rebekah Turner and Kent Zimmerman.

The challenge with any new show is getting people to go, especially when people have certain expectations of what the theater fare is going to be during the holiday season.

"We're trying to get the word out about what it is," Garrett said. "People are asking, `What is Holidays at the 'hills.'" Making his pre-show curtain speech before other productions earlier this season, Garrett did some explaining to the people on hand.

But did he feel a temptation to bring "A Christmas Carol" back again?

"Not strong," he replied candidly. "I've never been married to that. I know that many people may not agree with my opinion on this, but I've never felt the `Christmas Carols' were that terrific here. We don't do spectacle here. We do intimate musical entertainments really well." The Foothills theater seats 349. The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, which will be putting on its own "A Christmas Carol" beginning Dec. 19, seats 2,300.

"We had done `Christmas Carol' many years, and I could tell, talking to people, they had grown tired of it. It wasn't building: It was decreasing," Garrett said.

"You compete with everyone, but I think most of the options are things people are familiar with. What I like about our show is that no one is doing it but us. This is really the world premiere of this."

Garrett will be keeping an eye on audience reaction with a view to future holidays at the 'hills.

"I would like to see this become our own tradition. And because of our format we can take out material and bring in new material," Garrett said.

Foothills is currently conducting a food drive to benefit the Worcester County Food Bank. Patrons who bring in two cans of nonperishable food will get $5 off their ticket to the show.

"Holidays at the 'hills"

When: Tomorrow through Dec. 28

Where: Foothills Theatre Company, 100 Front St., Worcester

How much: $32; students, $19; children 12 and under, $16. Call [phone] or visit www.foothillstheatre.com.

ART: PHOTOS

PHOTOG: T&G Staff/PAUL KAPTEYN

CUTLINE: (1) "Holidays at the 'hills" opens its run tomorrow at Foothills Theatre. Russell Garrett, center, co-creator, director and performer, is shown during rehearsals. (2) Jim Rice, left, musical arranger and co-creator of "Holidays at the 'hills," with co-creator and director/choreographer Russell Garrett.