Chicago Tribune
- Recommended
"...With a running time of only about 80 minutes, this is not so much a stage version of the beloved 1947 movie as a pile-’em-up stage version of the most famous bits. You do not get to see Mr. Macy sashaying through the store to some distinctively original ditty. This may be Porchlight Music Theatre and a hefty $40 ticket, but this is not a musical. Unless you count a few holiday carols sung to recorded backing tracks — or, at the opening performance, in the same temporal vicinity as the backing tracks. This show was, without question, seriously under-rehearsed. So why, then, did I spend half of those 80 minutes with tears running down my cheeks?"
Chicago Reader
- Highly Recommended
"...This sweet little play-with-holiday-music pushes all the right buttons. It's pro kid, mildly pro family, pro Christmas without getting explicitly religious about it, pro Christmas shopping, and, of course, very pro Santa Claus. Like the 1947 movie, it asks the pop-theological question, What would happen if the real Santa Claus were to walk among us?"
Windy City Times
- Somewhat Recommended
"...Oversize Macy's Thanksgiving Day balloons parade across the stage via nifty digital projections in the opening sequence of Porchlight Music Theatre's new-to-Chicago adaptation of Miracle on 34th Street. But there's one oversize balloon that casts an enormous shadow over Porchlight's so-so production: It's the original Academy Award-winning 20th Century Fox film."
Talkin Broadway
- Somewhat Recommended
"...If it seems unfair to place such specific expectations on Porchlight, I think it's fair to say this piece (adapted by Patricia Di Benedetto Snyder, Will Severin and John Vreeke) would seem a little wooden anywhere. To my recollection, it's completely faithful to the screenplay of the 1947 film with Maureen O'Hara and Natalie Wood, but while it's fun to revisit the clever premise and likable characters, the pace seems a bit sluggish without the fluidity of film editing between the familiar scenes or without being significantly rethought for the stage."
Centerstage
- Highly Recommended
"...Handsome Karl Hamilton and lovely Christa Buck are sheer perfection as Fred Gailey and Doris Walker. Not only do they look like John Payne and Maureen O'Hara, the movie's romantic leads, they also have that wide-eyed innocence so remniscent of Hollywood's Golden Era that you cheer for and believe in them unconditionally. But the play belongs to verteran Chicago actor Jim Sherman as Kris Kringle. His honest, unaffected portrayal of the man who would be Santa will bring a tear to your eye and stay with you long after the curtain falls."
ChicagoCritic
- Recommended
"...I can’t think of a finer kid-friendly and adult proof new holiday show than this charming show. Take the kids and just use your imagination to enjoy this fluffy holiday candy. The staging is innovative as it infuses Christmas standards designed to enhance out holiday mood. Hey, the kids can meet and be photographed with Santa after each performance. So come and tell Santa what you want for Christmas."
Chicago Stage and Screen
- Recommended
"...As the holidays quickly approach, many of the area theaters bring out the old tried and true Christmas plays, the plays that we have seen year after year after year. Isn't it nice that Porchlight Music Theatre has decided to try something new, albeit a classical Christmas story, to their stage. What they have done is taken the novel by Valentine Davies, "Miracle on 34th Street," which many of us recall in the movie version (there have been a few) and added music to it. The new adaptation by Patricia Di Benedetto Snyder, Will Severin and John Vreeke continues to tell us the same story."
Chicago Theater Beat
- Highly Recommended
"...I have to say that it was the performance of Jim Sherman that really put me in the Christmas spirit. He has the sparkle and the charm that – for me – embody Santa Claus. He wears a suit that is more in the tradition of Father Christmas or Sinter Klass from the Netherlands. Even when he was clad in layperson’s attire he looked like Santa. I also enjoyed the character of Mr. Macy played by Chuck Sisson. I’m a girl who grew up on Mr. Drysdale, Mr. Mooney, and Thurston Howell III. There is a certain carriage and technique to carrying off the bluster of such a character in my opinion and Mr. Sisson has it much to my enjoyment."
