Philadelphia’s dedicated theater practitioner scene of actors, directors, company owners, writers and assorted craftspeople is a small, tight family, with two of its tightest longtime members being Jennifer Childs and Mary Martello.
This week, Childs, the 1812 Productions Producing artistic director, and Martello, an actor and singer, reunite, albeit virtually, in the previously recorded streaming run of “The Carols.” Presented now through Jan. 2 at 1812 Productions’ website, the warm, World War II-themed comic musical features a book and lyrics by Childs, composed music by Monica Stephenson, and choreography by Karen Getz.
Reminiscing about their shared history, the 1812 producer remembered the pair’s first show gig as actors.
“Our first show together was Michael Hollinger’s ‘Red Herring’ at the Arden,” said Childs of the Old City theater’s 2000 production in 2000. Martello, a Michigan native who arrived in the area via Princeton, and that city’s McCarter Theatre, got to Philly and the Arden Theatre in 1999 for Violet. “2000 is 21 years ago, honey,” says Martello, making Childs laugh.
Talking about Red Herring’s then-long run and that lengthy stretch’s shot at allowing actors time to marinate with the material, Childs fondly recalls happy dressing room times and being able to get to know Martello. And vice versa. “You’re around these people for so long. It was a dream cast, and I really fell in love with Mary,” says Childs.
“I love Jen and have always tried to work together with her – and we haven’t done too badly doing so,” says Martello, recalling additional partnerships between them such as past 1812 Productions of “Bat Boy,” “Cherry Bomb,” “The Shoplifters,” several two-hander cabarets, and, of course, “The Carols.”
Speaking from the perspective of a playwright, Childs says that the one of the reasons that she has called on Martello to star in her stories is that the actor often teaches the writer about her own characters.
“There are things that I put on the page… sometimes there is something specific and I need that met, and sometimes a character is more amorphous. With ‘Cherry Bomb,’ as soon as Mary walked in the room, I knew it was her. I had a sense of who this character was when I wrote her, but Mary just made her bigger than life. Then there are times, such as ‘The Carols,’ where, once I knew Mary was interested, I wrote more for her and her voice.”
Martello speaks about the table work of putting a show on its feet once she is presented with a script, as “getting the words into you, the rhythms. She believes that her relationship with Childs has made the process, from start to finish, joyful and desirable. In both cases, “Cherry Bomb” and “The Carols,” a local cast of dynamic women such as Charlotte Ford, Mary McCool, Rachel Camp, Caroline Dooner and Emily Kleimo have made the journey even more rewarding.
“I created both shows where females and female relationships were front and center, especially deep friendships and sisterhoods,” says Childs. “When it comes to their music, both feature gorgeous harmonies written specifically for women. Finding the women to fill these roles, watching disparate actors become as close as sisters… that’s exciting.”
Martello recalled having read and acted with many of these women in the past, and falling in love with each actor. “I think the thing that each of these women and I shared is that we really gave ourselves to the work,” she says. “We were very open to establishing close relationships, having quick intimacy and making it happen onstage.”
During Childs’ “The Carols,” the setting is the Christmas season of 1943, with World War II raging on the other side of the Atlantic, and a group of neighbors huddled together at a local VFW to make the most of what they have.
Filmed as an archival work with a two-camera set-up, an enveloping lighting arrangement and lively editing by multi-disciplinarian Philadelphian Jorge Cousineau, Childs calls “The Carols” “gorgeous to look at.”
Martello, who says “The Carols” was one of the most heartwarming and hilarious musicals she has ever performed in and hopes that its rights get picked up by theater companies across the country (it already has, into 2022) notes that there is one great aspect of having their past performance come alive, again, on the streaming screen. “I finally get a chance to see it… I was too busy doing it.”
