Before I begin; a very talented singer and dear friend, Sarah Vaughan, gave me encouragement that has helped me continue with my goals for Cancel Christmas. That, and the encouragement received by my family, friends and audiences, I know that one day Cancel Christmas will be well known throughout the world.

In the middle of March, about a week before I was to leave to take on the part of “Gus, The Theatre Cat” for the musical Cats, produced by the Ukiah Civic Light Opera, I learned that Hallmark had produced a movie with the title Cancel Christmas. In all of the years that I have been trying to get this into film (at one time, I had a Writer’s Guild agent representing me, but she was in the state of retiring and nothing ever came of it - Disney lost one script submitted and requested another), I wondered when someone would pick up the title. It finally happened and Hallmark did it.

With that on my mind I enter Northern California for the role of Gus. It was a very rewarding experience, and also, very inspirational. I returned with newfound energy; enough to work in an independent film (Donovan’s Legacy) with my good friend, Russell Copley. We had a great time performing in that film. That was when I decided to, once again, produce Cancel Christmas this coming year (2012).

I plan to start the same process as I did when I first wrote the play. I will form a new group of “Mini-Players” and train them in the art of drama. I see a great need for some good basic training that is lacking in many of the players of today.

In the first production, I had the advantage of working with the cast many months before we started rehearsals; training them just to be good actors, not thinking beyond those moments. At that time Cancel Christmas was not in my mind, it happened after a Mini-Players Halloween performance, for the Boys and Girls Club of Sonoma. The director of the B & G Club approached me, requesting a Christmas play.

The reason I formed the “Mini Players” was to be nearer to my own children, who were in the class and performed those first years of Cancel Christmas. Any reason to continue working with them was welcome.

I am a little older now (81 as of this writing; June 5, 2011). This year, after playing Gus, in the musical Cats, I decided to once again start a drama class and produce Cancel Christmas in Glendale, California. I have contacted a park commissioner that has a new building, perfect for the classes. I will be looking for a venue for the final production. Of course, I will be looking for sponsors.

Today, while going through my old files, I found an old folder containing the book, Miracle on 34th Street; I’ve had it a long time and decided it was time to read it. The book was by Valentine Davies, who had conceived the idea for the film. Davies gave credit to George Seaton who wrote the screenplay and presented it to Twentieth Century-Fox – he also directed the film. It became a Christmas favorite to this day.

I have seen the movie many times – I was at the preview of the transition to Technicolor, and had the good fortune to meet John Payne who played the attorney, defending Kris Kringle.

Davies had done something similar to what happened with Cancel Christmas. He gave the concept to a screenwriter who wrote a screenplay, then, after the movie was out, wrote the book. I wrote the play, then the book and finally a screenplay (A Christmas story, waiting to be put on screen).

As I was reading the first chapters, many thoughts were going through my head about my future plans for the production of Cancel Christmas. A few events influenced my next thoughts and a decision I made. I will give them to you in the order they occurred.

A few years ago I played (supernumerary) in the LA Opera production of The Festival Play of Daniel in which I played a nobleman. I grew a goatee in order to look more in character. The last time I grew any facial hairs, they were so grey that I shaved them off. So after the show ended, I had grown to like the goatee – the gray looked noble, so I kept it.

In 1999 I produced Cancel Christmas in San Diego at the Children’s Museum. I cast a man as Santa, who was from England, and had taught drama at a college in Northern California. It turned out that there were a few problems once we got into rehearsals.

The beginning of that final week, he sent me a letter, stating that I was restricting his acting with my directions. He dropped out of the show. I had no choice. I took on the role, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Back to now and reading the book by Valentine Davies. The story is really heartwarming – it made me realize my feeling about that time of season. A feeling I have more and more as time goes by. I once said that Christmas should be an all year celebration. The way my life is progressing, I feel that I live Christmas each day of my life. I am sure that what I am about to tell you won’t be a surprise. Yes, I am letting my beard grow – I will be Santa.

A little Post Script to the above:
At the time I finalized the introduction, I had not finished reading The Miracle on 34th Street – I was about halfway though it, which was enough to inspire the above writing, when a number of events happened.

I decided it was time to finish reading The Miracle on 34th Street . As I said before, and as the author had explained, the book was written after the movie was produced. It was the author’s concept, but George Seaton wrote the screenplay. Valentine Davies, the author, saw it as a collaboration. He changed some of the story, but kept mostly to the theme of the movie. I am telling you this so that you will understand the significance of what I am about to say.

As you may remember there was a young lad working at the department store who befriended Kris. Kris learned that the store Psychologist was confusing this young lad, which started the road to court. In the book it is written differently.

The store Psychologist was giving a lecture in the Neighborhood Center Auditorium; His lecture was about, exploding the myths of Santa Claus. Kris heard about the lecture and stole in through the back and ended up on the stage - this started the trip to court in the book.

This is a quote from the book about the auditorium, “It seemed that the Children’s Theater was giving its Christmas production and the set, which contained a large window and a fireplace could not be removed between performances.That line in the book, large window, took me aback.

Because of the material in the folder and because of the name of the used bookstore in Petaluma, I must have purchased that book, for twenty cents, around 1978 or 79 (Cancel Christmas was first produced in 1976) - I did not finish reading The Miracle on 34th Street until today, June 9, 2011. Now we come up to the reason I am writing this.

In my very first production, and all the productions that followed, there has always been a large window downstage for the elves to run to, in order to watch Santa go off with Flasher and the one horse open sleigh; also, in the workshop there was always a large fireplace.