THEATER REVIEWS : ‘Greetings’ Rings the Right Bells

So, you’re the kind of person who cries every time you see “It’s a Wonderful Life.” You still think of Natalie Wood as the star of “Miracle on 34th Street” and you can recite “A Christmas Carol” by heart.

Or let’s assume you’re the type who sympathizes more with Scrooge and the Grinch than with those scrawny little waifs with their oversized eyes and sticky-sweet aphorisms.

No matter if Christmas makes you hum or cry “Humbug!” Way Off Broadway’s current production has something for you.

“Greetings” is a comedy set around the Christmas tree in the Gorski family home in Pittsburgh. Son Andy is coming home for the holidays with his intended, a nice Jewish girl who calls herself Randi. Andy and Randi: It’s a match made in heaven.

Unfortunately, Gorski patriarch/devout Catholic Phil lost his sense of humor a couple of decades ago and is carrying around some heavy emotional baggage that takes on considerable tonnage around December. He sees nothing amusing in his son’s choice of a fiancee and has a few problems with her religious persuasion.

Mom Emily is more open-minded, but she’s the suffer-in-silence type. Younger brother Mickey welcomes Andy and Randi with open arms, but his acceptance carries no weight with Phil because Mickey is mentally impaired.

The happy couple have an uphill battle spreading their joy to the rest of the household. Apparently, even a match made in heaven cannot surmount the turmoil that erupts when Randi is forced to reveal that she actually has long been a full-fledged atheist.

Into this maelstrom, playwright Tom Dudzick drops a deliciously hip deus ex machina, a soul called Lucius who has transcended physical form. Lucius, it seems, has a karmic debt to pay and has channeled himself into the Gorski household to challenge one and all to see their lives with fresh eyes.

Dudzick’s script cleverly refits traditional Christmas themes with New Age sensibilities. Ultimately, the play is quite moving (if you’re as sappy as I am, you’re going to be sniffing audibly), but there are plenty of opportunities to laugh, even for the curmudgeonly in the crowd.

Director Tony Reverditto guides with a very smooth hand, and it is a pleasure to see how assuredly he captures both the humor and the pathos. The cast is uniformly fine. David Rousseve is sympathetic as the embittered Phil, and David Walloch is richly believable as son Andy, a man who grew up blaming himself for his father’s unhappiness. Karen Mangano gives a lovely, understated performance as Emily, and Denison Glass lends Randi a strong and attractive presence.

David Alan Nelson is remarkable as Mickey, completely convincing as a man with unplumbed intelligence and unexpressible feelings. He adroitly handles the role’s mercurial shifts.

Lucius is rather flat as a character, and his cosmic wisdom gets a bit preachy in Act Two, but otherwise “Greetings” has the makings of memorable holiday treat. One of Dudzick’s recurring themes is bad electrical connections, some of them in the walls, some of them in our heads. According to Lucius, we need only rearrange a few atoms to make our lives shine again.

Very little needs rearranging in “Greetings.” The connections onstage at Way Off Broadway are carrying enough current to light anyone’s Christmas star.

* “Greetings,” the Way Off Broadway Playhouse, 1058 E. First St., Santa Ana. Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays Dec. 12 and 19 at 2:30 p.m. Ends Dec. 19. $13.50 ($1 off with a canned good for the Laguna Disaster Relief Fund.) (714) 547-8997. Running time: 2 hours.

David Walloch: Andy Gorski

Denison Glass: Randi Stein

Sandra Wascher: Flight Attendant

Karen Mangano: Emily Gorski

David Alan Nelson: Mickey Gorski

David Rousseve: Phil Gorski

A Way Off Broadway production of a play by Tom Dudzick, directed by Tony Reverditto. Lights: Steve Andreno. Set: David Carleen. Sound Compilation: Steve Schmidt. Stage manager: Sandra Wascher.