Hoffman Estates native Julia Limoncelli makes her Griffin Theatre Company debut as a young girl whose grieving father refuses to celebrate Christmas in the premiere musical adaptation of Gail Rock’s “The House Without a Christmas Tree.”
Courtesy of Michael Brosilow
For a childhood filled with theater, Julia Limoncelli can thank her family and Lifeline Theatre’s children’s theater initiative KidSeries. The niece of writer/director/actor and longtime Lifeline ensemble member Frances Limoncelli, Julia Limoncelli can also thank suburban educators who arranged theater trips for suburban schoolchildren.
It was during one such excursion to a performance of “Frindle” at the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in Arlington Heights that the Hoffman Estates native first encountered Griffin Theatre Company.
“It seemed like Broadway at the time,” said Limoncelli, who was about 9 years old when she saw the show.
Some 15 years later, she’s starring in Griffin Theatre’s premiere musical adaptation of Gail Rock’s family-friendly, coming-of-age story “The House Without a Christmas Tree.”
Limoncelli plays Addie Mills, a young girl living in 1940s Nebraska whose widower father refuses to have a Christmas tree.
“It’s about family. It’s about grief,” she said. “It’s about having the tough conversations I feel everyone can relate to. It’s about problems between family members that are unspoken and what happens when we open up, talk about things and heal.”
Eighteen years in the making, the musical grew out of Griffin artistic director and writer William Massolia’s collaboration with composer/lyricist George Howe.
Their artistic partnership commenced in 2006 with “Sleeping Ugly,” their family-friendly adaptation of “Sleeping Beauty.” Life and other projects got in the way of their intended follow-up, and it wasn’t until late 2020 that they got serious about a second collaboration.
Howe suggested the 1972 television movie “The House Without a Christmas Tree” might be ripe for adaptation. (An opera version of the tale premiered in 2017 at the Houston Grand Opera). After securing the rights from Rock, they got to work. Massolia, an Algonquin native, began writing the libretto in 2021 and finalized it last summer over a 10-day writing retreat in France. Earlier this year, staged concerts of the show sold out both Easter weekend performances. The response encouraged the duo, who wanted to create a traditional musical, not a self-aware, ironic tuner.
“It’s a lovely little story,” said Massolia. “It’s funny. It’s heartwarming. Anyone can relate to the main character and her teenage angst.”
“It’s one of those stories where you’ll feel good after you see it,” said the writer, who hopes the show becomes part of the Christmas theater canon.
Julia Limoncelli, left, Darrelyn Marx and Molly Clemente star in Griffin Theatre Company’s premiere of the musical adaptation of “The House Without a Christmas Tree.”
Courtesy of Michael Brosilow
Darrelyn Marx believes that’s likely. This production marks the first time in about six years she has been on stage and the first time she has performed with Griffin since 2009’s “Robber Bridegroom.”
“I had stopped auditioning,” said the retired educator turned actor who taught English and theater for more than 20 years at Winnetka’s New Trier High School. “There aren’t many roles for a woman past 70. I thought it was over.”
She reconsidered after Massolia invited her to audition for the role of Addie’s feisty grandmother.
She found the book delightful and refreshing and describes the musical as deeply meaningful with song lyrics “that will tug at your heart.”
The great pleasure, according to the former Park Ridge resident, has been director Dorothy Milne’s cast of “outrageously talented” young people.
Fellow cast member Darrelyn Marx, 73, praised the young actors starring in Griffin Theatre Company’s “The House Without a Christmas Tree.” The “outrageously talented” cast includes Sam Hook, left, Andrew Greiche, Julia Limoncelli and Molly Clemente.
Courtesy of Michael Brosilow
“I find myself grinning from ear to ear,” said the 73-year-old. “It’s invigorating to work with this kind of professionalism and joy. I feel honored.”
Marx predicts “The House Without a Christmas Tree” will prove popular with audiences of all ages, especially teenagers searching for their identity and life’s meaning.
“Right now the world we live in is longing for truth, longing for something that matters,” she said.
To that end, “The House Without a Christmas Tree” is a gift, a reminder of what makes life worth living.
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“The House Without a Christmas Tree”
When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday through Dec. 29. Also, 3 p.m. Dec. 21 and 28
Where: Griffin Theatre at Bramble Arts Loft, 5545 N. Clark St., Chicago, (872) 529-0657, griffintheatre.com
Tickets: $35-$43