When I was asked to direct The Gifts of the Magi I'll be honest — my first reaction was that it felt old fashioned and outdated. I said as much to the cast. And then I told them what our challenge was going to be: to make this the sweetest, most heartwarming love letter to Christmas and Christmas carols that we possibly could.

That is exactly what we did.

Based on O. Henry's beloved story, The Gifts of the Magi follows a young couple in New York — Jim and Della — who each secretly sacrifice their most precious possession to buy a Christmas gift for the other. Jim sells his watch to buy Della a set of combs for her beautiful long hair. Della cuts and sells her hair to buy Jim a chain for his watch. They act at cross purposes and end up with gifts neither can use. And yet the story is one of the most moving testaments to love ever written — because a gift is not an object. It is the spirit of giving.

The production leaned into warmth, simplicity and sincerity without apology.

The audience walked in to find a single enormous red book on the stage — its cover reading The Gifts of the Magi. When the house lights went down, the cast — dressed as a troupe of roving players — entered the darkened auditorium from all sides, each carrying a lantern, and began singing the opening number. Slowly, through the darkness, they made their way to the stage. They opened the book. And inside it was the world of the musical, waiting to begin.

Working with choreographer Anna Bettering, many of the dances were created collaboratively with the ensemble — built from rehearsal exercises rooted in the actors themselves. The result was movement that felt genuinely inhabited rather than imposed.