Winter Wonderettes is a musical comedy written by Roger Bean. It is the sequel to the musical, The Marvelous Wonderettes, also written by Bean. Winter Wonderettes is set in 1968, a few months after the events that occurred in The Marvelous Wonderettes.
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It is Christmas, 1968 and the Marvelous Wonderettes, Betty Jean, Cindy Lou, Missy and Suzy, have been asked to entertain at the Holiday Party for Harper’s Hardware, where Betty Jean has worked since high school. The audience become fellow employees, friends and family, and the girls have decorated the hardware store, turning it into a winter wonderland! Every year, as is tradition, Mr. Harper is scheduled to appear dressed as Santa Claus at the end of the evening to pass out the employees holiday bonus envelopes. Trouble ensues when Mr. Harper misses his cue multiple times. Betty Jean runs off to find him and returns to the stage with what she thinks are the bonus envelopes. The envelopes are passed out to the audience, but upon opening them they discover pink slips instead of Christmas bonuses. It seems that Harper’s Hardware is closing!
As is Missy's nature, she tries her best to cheer things up by sharing happy Christmas memories as well as a tribute to Christmas around the world. After everyone is feeling better, the girls decide to bring on their own Santa: Missy’s new husband Bill (an audience member). After serenading Santa onstage, Suzy discovers another set of envelopes in the Santa bag. It turns out the first set of envelopes were a trick! Harper’s Hardware is staying open and everyone receives a huge holiday bonus!
| Mister Santa | Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree | Jingle Bell Rock |
| Jingle Bells | A Marshmallow World | Little Saint Nick |
| It’s Christmas Time All Over the World | ¿Dónde Está Santa Claus? | Mele Kalikimaka |
| O Tannenbaum | The Man With the Bag | We Wanna See Santa Do the Mambo |
| Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town | Sleigh Ride | Run, Rudolph, Run |
| Christmas Will Be Just Another Lonely Day | This Christmas | Suzy Snowflake |
| All Those Christmas Clichés | Snowfall | Ring Those Christmas Bells |
| Winter Wonderland | What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve? | Santa Baby |
The first production was done at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre from November 7, 2003-January 4, 2005. [1] In December of 2010 a studio cast recording of Winter Wonderettes featuring Julie Dixon Jackson, Darcie Roberts, Misty Cotton and Bets Malone was released on LML Music.
Production staged at Stages Repertory Theatre, November 9 - December 24, 2011, directed by Melissa Rain Anderson, who directed The Marvelous Wonderettes at Stages in 2010. The production stars Rachael Logue, Holland Vavra Peters, Chelsea Ryan McCurdy and Christina Stroup. The production was dedicated in honor of Sofia V. Mendez, a swing for all the characters in the ten month run of The Marvelous Wonderettes. Sofia was set to play "Missy" in Winter Wonderettes, and passed away on October 1, 2011 just before rehearsals began.