MANSFIELD — Around the holidays, Steve Reeder is known to his family and friends as “Mr. Christmas.”
He’s got a collection of Christmas-themed ties that he wears in heavy rotation throughout the month of December. You’ll often find him helping out at his church, Shelby First Free Will Baptist. And when it comes to decorating his house in Mansfield, Reeder has had as many as 3,000 lights in his display.
“Sometimes I go a bit overboard,” he said with a laugh.
So it makes sense that Reeder plays the role of a train conductor trying to infuse the Christmas spirit into a bunch of weary travelers in the Mansfield Playhouse’s holiday show, “A Gift To Remember.” The final performances take place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Based on the book “Can This Be Christmas?” by Debbie Macomber, “A Gift To Remember” tells the story of a group of strangers who find themselves stranded together in a small train depot due to a snowstorm on Christmas Eve.
Each is trying to return home for life-changing events – a marriage proposal, the birth of a first grandchild, to patch up a marriage – but despite their disappointments, they try to make the best of things. Though evening gets off to a rocky start, in the true spirit of Christmas the strangers begin to bond.
“What we see in this process are small vignettes of every person’s backstory, whether it’s a phone conversation or a memory,” said director Doug Wertz. “Before the night is over, they warm up to one another and become friends throughout this whole experience. By the time they get out of there, everyone is anxious to go home, but I think they’re just as happy to be traveling in one another’s company.”
The show takes place in the 1990s, the recent past that predates the arrival of smart phones and the internet. This fact turns out to be an important part of the story.
“Technology has helped us multitask, it’s convenient in a lot of ways, but it hasn’t really changed humanity when it comes to the sense of empathy and compassion we should have for one another,” Wertz said. “That’s why it’s important to go back to the basics.”
As the disgruntled travelers enter the station, Reeder’s character attempts to comfort them by making coffee, supplying sandwiches, and even providing them with a ragamuffin Christmas tree to decorate as their own. According to Wertz, even a group of Christmas carolers show up because Reeder’s character wanted to bring some holiday cheer.
“He has the Christmas spirit and wants to share it,” Reeder said of the station manager. “He’s that type of a person who would do that. And I’ve tried to put myself in his place, because Christmas is my favorite season, so I try to put myself into that.”
This is the fifth Christmas show Reeder has played a part in at the Playhouse. The first show he participated in was “It’s A Wonderful Life” back in 2013 – a mere eight months after receiving a life-saving liver transplant. Since that performance, Reeder has been hooked on the holiday shows as a way to indulge in his favorite season.
“I think it’s the attitude people have around Christmas,” Reeder said. “People are more kind to each other and more generous. It just seems like everyone is better to each other, so if I can do my little part to help that out, that’s all I can ask for.”
The last performances of “A Gift To Remember” take place this weekend on Dec. 13, 14 and 15. The Friday and Saturday shows begin at 7 p.m. while the Sunday show begins at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are available online or by calling the box office at 419-522-2883.
“We are so quick to judge somebody without knowing any backstory, and that’s why I think this story it’s relevant today,” Wertz said. “Keep Christmas alive and understand what it means to be nice to one another. I think it’s a message to humanity to stay humane, and stay humble.”
