"Meet Me in St. Louis: A Live Radio Play" at Bucks County Playhouse

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Since seeing Annie at age 7, I’ve been hooked on live theater — Broadway, regional, community, even high school musicals. I love a good show. And I love watching actors who love what they do. I think you can tell when they’re phoning it in. And you can revel in their performance when they’re not.

Take Lauren Molina in Meet Me in St. Louis: A Live Radio Play, the Bucks County Playhouse’s holiday show, which opened December 4. I am probably the last person on the planet who hasn’t seen the Judy Garland movie. I know “The Trolley Song” from a 1980s candy commercial and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” from the Muppets holiday CD circa 1980. But I’ll see any show, and I’m glad I saw this one.

It’s sentimental, sweet, and cute, with a show-within-a-show structure involving performers in 1946 putting on a radio show, complete with Foley artist, set in 1903. But what struck me most — and what I most enjoyed — was the infectious joy of the performers, particularly Lauren Molina.

Molina, who made her Broadway debut in 2005’s revival of Sweeney Todd and was a member of the original Broadway cast of Rock of Ages, plays Tootie, Katie the Irish maid, and other characters. She created and endured linguistic challenges — Tootie has a speech impediment (just part of her charm) and Katie had to keep her brogue intact for the right persona as her portrayer changes from one character to the other. The thing that stood out the most, though, was that out of all six actors in the cast, Molina seemed to be having the most fun.

To distinguish the maid from the child, she wore a headpiece that was supposed to slip into her hair — and stay put. Most of the time, it slipped to one side or the other. One time when she put it on, it fell right off. She just kept going, holding it in a shaking fist above her head as if to say, “Damn you, headpiece!” And then she laughed.

Her enthusiasm was contagious. Many of her jokes and her delivery made my laugh the loudest in the auditorium. I really think she was just having a ball. And it showed.

I remember reading an article a few years ago about an actor playing the Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. The staging called for him to be in the scenery for a time. Most theatergoers seeing him emerge from hiding would suspect that he eagerly anticipated the moment of his reappearance. In reality, he said, he curled up on the floor of his hiding place with a crossword puzzle and waited for his cue.

Of course, the Phantom could do a laudable performance even after deciphering that the answer for 7 down, a six-letter word for “lack of enthusiasm,” is “apathy.” But his admission made me think he was tired of the music of the night — and I bet it showed, maybe not to sporadic theatergoers, but definitely to show junkies (like me).

Maybe my luck had me see the show on a night when Molina was really on, or maybe she’s like this all the time (for every audience, I hope that’s true). She made me forget I was watching a show. And she made me forget I walked three blocks in the rain to get to the theater.

Meet Me in St. Louis: A Live Radio Play is not a ground-breaking, earth-shattering, make-you-think-about-life-for-days kind of show. It’s holiday fun with great actors. For this theater junkie, it was a laugh-out-loud night at the theater. And Molina’s performance made me appreciate being a fan even more.

Meet Me in St. Louis: A Live Radio Play at the Bucks County Playhouse, 70 Main Street, New Hope, PA 18938. Through December 29. Tickets $29-$57.50. Call (215) 862-2121 or bcptheater.org

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