The new Actor's Rep in Middletown tonight premieres an original holiday show, Christmas for the Boys: 1944. Deborah Walker, the theater's general manager, does double-duty as the show's creator.

IF YOU GO

• What: Christmas with the Boys: 1944   • When: 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday through Dec. 22, 3 p.m. this Saturday and Sunday   • Where: Actor's Repertory Theatre, 2 N. Main St., Middletown   • Tickets: $18, $15 students and seniors, (513) 727-9361

        Question: Why take such a daring move to include an original show in your first season?

        Mrs. Walker: We started brainstorming last January, and the first thing we knew we had to do was lay out a season. We wanted a holiday show, but we didn't want to do Scrooge or Amahl (and the Night Visitors.)

        I thought, at the holidays everybody loves nostalgia, why not a USO show, 1940s music and dancing — the more we talked, the more excited we were.

        Q: Aren't you too young to be familiar with the '40s yourself?

        A: I'm an old movie buff, and I love World War II movies. I love swing; I think it's some of the greatest American popular music ever written, particularly in the way it captures the era.

        We do have some older audience members, and it's always fun to hear something from when you were young. It takes you back.

        Q: How did you write the show?

        A: I started by putting together a loose framework and a song list of some of my favorites —“I'll Be Seeing You,” “The Boogie-Woogie Bugle Boy,” a lot of Glenn Miller like “In the Mood” and“Pennsylvania Six-5000.” Then I threw in some holiday classics like “I'll Be Home for Christmas” and “White Christmas.”

        We'll have a seven-piece jazz band, a kind of mini-swing orchestra and every show will feature three swing dancing couples, recruited from throughout the region, along with our cast of six.

        Q: Did you do much research?

        A: I did a lot of research. The show starts with FDR's Christmas Eve address to the boys in 1944. I also knew we needed big, visual original comedy routines, and I listened to audio tapes, especially of comedy teams like Hope and Crosby and Abbott and Costello.

        Q: Christmas for the Boys doesn't just have a stage design, the entire building has been decorated to create an environment.

        A: When people step in the door, there will be period posters and the whole building will be resonating with Glenn Miller. There will be sandbags marking the path and upstairs in the theater there's an illusion of a tent.

        After the show, coffee and donuts will be served by Red Cross volunteers.
       

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