This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

In the four years since Karen Azenberg took over as artistic director of Pioneer Theatre Company, she's been hearing what Utah theatergoers are interested in seeing for holiday entertainment.

They want the usual, she says: family-friendly theater, and it should feel familiar but fresh. It needs to have singing, dancing and live music, at once traditional and contemporary.

It shouldn't be "A Christmas Carol," as the Hale theaters have established the local franchise on that Dickens classic, but it needs to have that spirit. And "it needs to be something they've never seen before," Azenberg says.

That's the daunting wish list that inspired Pioneer Theatre Company's original holiday show, "It Happened One Christmas," which premieres Friday and plays through Dec. 19.

"One Christmas" boasts a cast of 28, including 10 kids, performing 20 holiday songs, many with the twists of new arrangements, all supported by a scenically spectacular set.

Plus, Azenberg promises, there will be Broadway-style dancing, possibly an unusual-for-PTC kickline and a rendition of "Yes, Virginia," the famous editorial answer to a young reader published in 1897 in New York's The Sun newspaper.

The story hangs loosely on a mythical backstage tradition that draws the spirits of all local holiday shows to come together on Christmas Eve to perform for Santa Claus. If Old St. Nick likes the show, he'll deliver a white Christmas to Salt Lake City. The idea was sparked by the history of Salt Lake's Orpheum Theatre, 132 S. State St., which became the city's first full-time vaudeville house when it opened on Christmas 1905.

"The unknown is in play here," says Howard Kaye, a New York-based actor who plays the Stage Manager.

"It's all your favorite elements and songs put into a show, that's what it is," says singer/actor Ginger Bess, a Utah performer who is a principal among the ensemble cast. Bess recently played Magenta in PTC's "The Rocky Horror Show."

"It's all things holiday entertainment, and yet personal to our community — and utterly charming," says Azenberg, who is directing the show she created with playwright and composer Kenneth Jones. (Last year, the company premiered Jones' "Alabama Story.") "The spirit of the show is to have these bits and pieces from artists whose work we love and who support the theater."

Among the new songs is "The Gift," offered by Broadway composer Frank Wildhorn. Wildhorn and Jack Murphy's adaptation of "The Count of Monte Cristo" will see its North American professional theater premiere on the Pioneer Theatre stage in May.

Jeffry Denman, an actor who performed in PTC's "White Christmas" and "A Chorus Line," offered his arrangement of the traditional "O Tannenbaum" from a "Carols for a Cure" album.

Other PTC favorite numbers will receive new treatments, such as "Sparklejollytwinklejingley" from 2013's production of "Elf" and a season-spanning rendition of "Seasons of Love," from 2011's production of "Rent," which has become one of Bess' signature songs.

"I've heard 16 Broadway casts, and touring casts, and all over, and I've never heard anybody sing it better than Ginger Bess," says Azenberg, who is one of Utah's Tony voters. "To me, that song transcends that show in a million ways. It will not look like it does in 'Rent,' either."

The singer, known for her long ginger hair, loves the improvisation allowed by the song's range, which stretches to a high C. "It just comes out of her," Azenberg says. "She always looks a little surprised, and then there it is."

At first, Bess says, performing the song was a challenge, but "now it's part of my body, part of my muscle memory. I don't know all the notes I'm hitting, it's definitely all over the place. It also just strikes a chord with me emotionally, and it's easy for me to project, the way it builds and the dynamics of it."

"One Christmas" has sought its shape through rehearsals, based on the talents of the cast. "Some of it is the process of creating a show and seeing who steps forward and does something amazing," Azenberg says.

Bess lauds Azenberg's staging, which is like another character in the show, while she underscores the talent of the dancers. "It's mind-boggling the things they do with their bodies," she says with a laugh.

"You can't fight the love and the spirit and the generosity and the joy that Christmas brings," says Howard Kaye, a New York-based actor who was raised Jewish in Cincinnati. One of the joys of "One Christmas" is his first chance to play "Santa drag."

Kaye is returning to Salt Lake City after performing in "The Music Man" and "Peter and the Starcatcher." He calls Azenberg's "One Christmas" a rare holiday gift for local theatergoers.

"I've worked in dozens of regional theaters, but this is a very unique thing that she's doing, creating and localizing an event, specifically for Salt Lake City," he says. "It's sort of unheard of. Most holiday shows are crowd-pleasers or a trusted selling brand. To have the opportunity to not have a blueprint, to not have a script to follow — it's awesome."

As a Jew creating a holiday show in a Mormon town, Azenberg admits she's shamelessly appropriating holiday tropes while appreciating genuine moments of seasonal kitsch. "Don't we all make fun of ourselves when we find ourselves sitting in front of open fire drinking hot chocolate?"

Are you ready for a new Christmas show?

Pioneer Theatre Company presents "It Happened One Christmas," a show of holiday favorites, with new twists, and a cast of 28, conceived by Karen Azenberg and Kenneth Jones.

When • Dec. 4-19; Monday-Thursday, 7:30 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, 8 p.m.; Saturday matinees at 2 p.m.

Where • Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre, 300 S. 1400 East, Salt Lake City

Tickets • $40-$62 in advance; $5 more day of show; students in grades K-12 are half price on Monday and Tuesday; 801-581-6961; pioneertheatre.org