The Van Wezel wants you to have 'A Very Broadway Christmas'

In regional theater, there is no higher praise than saying something is as “good as Broadway.” But no one knows better than the stars who have lit up the Great White Way how to make sure a show really hits that mark. That’s how a group of Broadway veterans has created a holiday production that sees itself as a local version of the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular, minus the camel.

FYI, even though Radio City is located two blocks over from Broadway on Avenue of the Americas, its 92-year-old holiday show, replete with the high-stepping Rockettes, is considered the gold standard.

Sarasota audiences will get a little bit of that big city holiday magic when “A Very Broadway Christmas” comes to the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall on Monday, Dec. 22. It plays the previous night at the Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg.

The show features six Broadway headliners, including Justin Gomlak, director of education and community programs at the Van Wezel, who acts as emcee. Before joining the Van Wezel in 2022, Gomlak appeared in such Broadway shows as the Tony Award-winning revival of “Anything Goes,” “The Producers,” “Annie,” “Seussical the Musical” and “Shrek the Musical.”

“We don’t really have one of these Broadway-style Christmas spectaculars in Sarasota,” Gomlak says. “There are Christmas Carols, Nutcrackers and WBTT (Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe) programming, but this is quite different. It speaks to the whole family and puts you in the Christmas spirit.”

“A Very Broadway Christmas” was first presented at the Mahaffey Theater in 2023 by Broadway on the Bay, a St. Pete production company dedicated to bringing together Broadway pros and local talent. Broadway on the Bay is the brainchild of husband-and-wife team Scott Difford and Heather Tepe, who met on Broadway in 2013 while performing in “Matilda the Musical.”

After traveling the world together with the show for four years, they got married and moved to St. Pete, which they discovered when Difford visited the city in “The Book of Mormon.”

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Tepe has fond memories of Sarasota; one of her early roles was in a Florida Studio Production of “Ruthless,” about a young actress who’s willing to do the unthinkable be the star of her school production.

Broadway on the Bay isn’t just about bringing high-caliber productions to the St. Pete area, explains Difford. “It’s about introducing the next generation to the joy of live musical theater,” he says. “Lots of art forms have died out over the years or become niche. We don’t want to see that to happen to Broadway.”

Toward that end, students from Riverview High School will be performing in “A Very Broadway Christmas” at the Van Wezel.

A mutual friend makes the connection

Difford and Tepe found Gomlak through a mutual friend, David Holcenberg, who serves as music director of “A Very Broadway Christmas” and orchestrated Broadway’s“MJ the Musical,” about Michael Jackson’s 1992 Dangerous world tour. “MJ” is coming to the Van Wezel in February, but we’ve got stay focused on Christmas.

Those attending “A Very Broadway Christmas” will be treated to seasonal favorites such as “We All Need a Little Christmas” from “Mame,” “Happy Holidays” from “White Christmas” and “Sparklejollytwinklejingley” from “Elf the Musical.” 

“Frozen” fans will be glad to hear two songs from that wintry favorite — “Summer,” made famous by the snowman Olaf, and “Let It Go,” first performed by Idina Menzel in her role as Queen Elsa.

There will be familiar holiday songs without Broadway ties, including “Holly Jolly Christmas” and “Let It Snow,” which found its way into the movie “Die Hard,” as well as “Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays,” the hit by NSYNC, the ‘90s boy band sensation that got its start in Orlando.

“A Very Broadway Christmas” doesn’t have a storyline per se, Difford says. “It’s just one Christmas delight after another,” he says.

There will be familiar characters such as Santa Claus, elves dressed in red and green and the Grinch, the green creature who sprung from the imagination of children’s book author Dr. Seuss.

Be warned: “A Very Broadway Christmas” breaks the “fourth wall,” by having Tepe and others reminisce about their experiences on Broadway. 

Spoiler: Tepe was once a “Secret Santa” for famed Broadway star Bernadette Peters when they were both in the the 2003 revival of “Gypsy.” Tepe played Baby June while Peters starred as Rose in the production directed by Sam Mendes.

Props? Did we mention props? There are more than 40, according to Difford, as well as a big Christmas tree. The sets and costumes are also designed to impress audiences.

Although this is the first time for “A Very Broadway Musical” at the Van Wezel, it’s the third time round for most of the main players, including Gomlak. “All of the leads did it last year and most of the dancers are returning,” he says.

There will be just a week of rehearsals before the show, Gomlak says, which could be challenging for a new tap number. “That’s part of the fun of it,” he says. “When you’re a performer, you’re sometimes living life on the razor’s edge. That energy can be unsettling for some, but other people thrive on it.”

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Two of the company members — associate choreographer Drew Robinson and dance captain Baylie Dockins — are currently based in Sarasota and will no doubt be familiar to dance fans in town. 

What’s different this year for Gomlak is that he’s dusting off his tap shoes for “Happy Holidays,” a new addition to “A Very Broadway Christmas” that will be staged as big tap extravaganza.

Asked where he sourced all his costumes for the show, Gomlak quipped, “You’d be surprised how many sequins you can find on Amazon.”

Some of the audience members at the Van Wezel may already know Gomlak. They may even have studied with him in the Master Classes he teaches in connection with the Broadway touring shows that come to Sarasota’s aging, but beloved “Purple Palace.”

With his Broadway bona fides, introducing students of all ages to the soundtrack of a musical and choreographing dance routines on the fly come naturally to Gomlak. It’s a role and a revenue stream that he suggested to Mary Bensel, executive director of the city-owned Van Wezel, when he was first hired by her.

“My predecessor did a wonderful job, but they weren’t a performer,” Gomlak notes. After doing nine Broadway shows in 15 years, Gomlak transitioned into a career as an educator. In his job at the Van Wezel, he gets to do a little of both.

As of Dec. 10, more than 1,200 of the Van Wezel's 1,741 seats have been sold for "A Very Broadway Christmas," which Bensel said was excellent in a holiday season where demand is running hot and cold, depending on the show.

According to Gomlak, Dec. 22 is a sweet spot in the calendar because "the kids are off from school." Difford thinks the show is selling well because "it's something original that the whole family can enjoy that's not on a screen."