Play Development
SANTA.COM - THE MUSICAL
By John Kallas and Tom Ferriter
Santa.Com - The Musical is the story of the corruption of Christmas by the forces of technology and the intrusions of government, leading to the early retirement of Santa Claus and the down-sizing of his workshop. Faced with a budget crisis and growing national debt of gargantuan proportions, the President and his economic advisers decide to intervene in the traditions of Christmas in order to exploit the efficiencies and conveniences of internet shopping and reap huge tax revenues to reduce the budget deficit. As part of their plan, Santa Claus is forced into retirement and his workshop is modernized, resulting in the layoff of his loyal, and long-term, workforce - a.k.a., Santa's elves - most of whom are replaced by ultra-fast computers capable of instantaneous communication with parents via the internet. The President's eight year-old daughter, upon learning of the plight of Santa and his workers, enlists the aid of a corps of unseen gremlins - those ever present phenomena that interfere with modern technology - who freeze the computers, crash their programs, and otherwise gum up the works. In the ensuing chaos of unfilled orders, Santa's elves persuade their former employer to come out of enforced retirement and resume his role as master gift-giver to children the world over.
Santa.Com - The Musical is a new musical play for families that addresses, thematically, the need for healthy fantasy in the world of children, as well as in the adult world, and the need for imagination and simplicity in our everyday lives to use as a coping force as we struggle to exist in a world that has become too complex and too complicated for both children and adults.
Santa.Com - The Musical emphasizes the need to maintain and foster traditional values associated with family, love, Christmas, Santa Claus and the world of mythical and spiritual legends. The story suggests that not everything in the world need be high tech or computerized; that human beings do not have to depersonalize the simpler things in life, like Santa Claus and other stories and fables associated with Christmas, in order to be sophisticated and functional in their advanced societies.
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