When putting together a musical production, veteran performers Luke Walrath and Betsi Morrison are used to planning for contingencies. The list of “what ifs” for this year’s Yuletide Affair concert includes a first for the couple: the arrival of their twin babies.
For Walrath and Morrison, the executive director and artistic director of Alpine Theatre Project, the holiday show must go on, infants and all.
Yuletide Affair 8: Maternity Edition takes place on Dec. 19 and 20 at the Whitefish Performing Arts Center. It’s ATP’s year-end fundraiser, and Walrath said it is one of the theater company’s most important events because it provides the financial boost for the next year.
It’s also one of their most sought-out productions.
“It’s become really popular. It’s a fun, funny great time,” Walrath said last week. “We added a second show last year mainly because it got to the point where it sold out in 48 hours.”
The show began when ATP first incorporated as a nonprofit in 2004. At first, it was just Walrath, Morrison and cofounder David Ackroyd singing some of their favorite songs on stage, while someone else played the piano, Walrath said.
A couple of years later, they started inviting other artists to perform with them. By 2007, the show became more of a full concert, complete with Broadway artists invited to participate.
“Friends come in and share their talents with our patrons,” Walrath said. “But we still view it as a fundraiser, a benefit concert to help us.”
This year’s Yuletide Affair will largely focus on music, featuring David Ackroyd, Charrisa Bertels, Matt Densky, Julie Foldesi, Holly Hendricks, Aaron Ramey, Anne Fraser Thomas and Aaron Vega. Guest musicians will include Brandon Gwynn on the piano, Rob Mosher on the woodwinds, percussionist James Pingenot and Billy Thompson on keyboard.
Walrath said one of the quirks of the show is that it doesn’t take itself seriously, nor do the actors. It’s a time to spoof Whitefish and whatever else is going on the valley, and not even ATP is immune to the ribbing.
The cast often incorporates jokes about criticism that ATP has received, Walrath said, such as “this show is too loud or why do you always have to get naked all the time.”
Still, even with the jokes, Walrath said the cast does its best to acknowledge the holiday season.
“We want to not take ourselves seriously, but at the same time find those moments of poignancy in the concert,” he said.
Yuletide Affair is also traditionally when ATP announces its next season of shows. This year, ticketholders will also have the chance to win a trip to New York City with Walrath and Morrison to get a Broadway experience from the actors’ point of view.
The trip will include backstage opportunities and the winner will also sit in on the actor auditions that ATP holds each year.
Tickets for the show are available on ATP’s website. There are two options: a $39 ticket for the concert, or a $50 for the concert and a dessert reception at Crush Wine Bar following the show.
The cast lineup for Yuletide Affair 8 is larger than in previous years, Walrath noted, because he and Morrison were not sure whether they would be able to participate in the concert due to the unknown birth date of their twins.
“What’s making everything really, really strange is just this pregnancy,” he said last week. “We called it ‘maternity edition’ because we can’t ignore it so we might as well have fun with it.”
They came up with different set lists for each scenario: both of them able to perform, only Walrath able to perform, or Morrison gives birth on the night of the show and neither can perform. Luckily, the couple will have time to figure out their options.
The twins made their grand entrance on Dec. 8.
For tickets, visit www.alpinetheatreproject.org or call the ATP box office at 862-7469.