Santa Comes To Alma

‘Miracle’ on stage Saturday

Fred Mackaman, front left, performs as Kris Kringle in “Miracle on 34th Street” Saturday at Alma Performing Arts Center.

Fred Mackaman, front left, performs as Kris Kringle in “Miracle on 34th Street” Saturday at Alma Performing Arts Center.

Friday, December 14, 2012

Fred Mackaman will don the world’s most recognizable red-andwhite holiday costume this weekend for “Miracle on 34th Street.”

Mackaman plays Kris Kringle in Minnesota-based Troupe America’s production of the musical, which will be on stage Saturday at Alma Performing Arts Center.

Mackaman, 58, wears the Santa Claus costume in only one scene, when he assumes the role of Santa at Macy’s. He says when he put the outfit on for the first time, he kind of transcended into that role.

Kris Kringle is in street clothes throughout the rest of the show.

The show, first on film in 1947, tells the story of an old gentleman who is drafted to be Macy’s Santa Claus because the existing one is drunk when it’s time for the big parade, Mackaman explains. After being hired, Kris Kringle gets to know the woman who hired him and her daughter.

This woman doesn’t want her daughter to believe in fairy tales or Santa Claus, he says.

Kringle claims to be the real Santa Claus, and during the show goes to trial because some people want to have him committed as crazy.

Mackaman likes that this version of Kris Kringle is a “real guy living in a big city,” he says. The show is not set at the North Pole and there are no reindeer. At first glance, he just seems like a kindly old man who is asked to be a department store Santa, he adds. The more Kringle isexplored, “the more we realize he’s also pretty magic.”

This is Mackaman’s first time playing Kris Kringle in a scripted show, though he has portrayed Santa Claus at parties and in musical revues.

Mackaman lives in Minnesota and is on his first tour with the company. He says he has been acting since junior high when he was in a play and “got the bug.” He received a degree in theater and education and has been an actor and teacher. He retired from teaching about a year ago, which allowed him to build a second career as a full-time professional actor, he says.

Most of his acting has been in stage productions in Minnesota, and 75 percent of them were musicals, he says.

Some of his past roles include Big Daddy in “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” Don Quixote in “Man of La Mancha,” and a member of the barbershop quartet in “The Music Man.”

The music in the musical “Miracle on 34th Street” is by Meredith Willson, who also created the music in “The Music Man.” Mackaman says a song that audience members may recognize is “ It’sBeginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas.” He sings a lullaby near the end of the first act called “May the Good Lord Bless and Keep You,” and he notes that the other songs work in the context of the show but might not be familiarto audiences.

Mackaman says his favorite part of the show is when he is dressed in traditional Santa attire and sitting on the big throne at Macy’s. During this scene, a little Dutch girl comes up with her father to see Santa Claus, but she can’t speakEnglish. Kris Kringle speaks to her in Dutch, and they sing a children’s tune in Dutch together, he says.

“It’s just a charming moment that shows the magic of this character and his ability to connect with children,” he says.

Whats Up, Pages 12 on 12/14/2012