Miracle on 34th Street at Asheville Community Theatre

James Vaughn's performance as Kris Kringle in Miracle on 34th Street is among the finest acting showcases to grace the Asheville Community Theatre stage in recent years. A practically perfect visual fit for the iconic role, Vaughn exudes effortless charisma, confidence that never veers into boastfulness, and consistent clarity with each line-reading.

Considering his impeccable work, it’s a shame that the surrounding elements never come close to matching his skills — though it’s important to note that these shortcomings are almost always due to the problematic adaptation by Mountain Community Theater, not the effort of the dedicated cast and crew.

In addition to Vaughn’s standout turn, director Candice Burchill shepherds commendable acting from her ensemble, yet occasionally struggles in regard to performer placement and movement, starting with an excessively busy, full-stage Manhattan street scene. Though featuring one conversation at a time informs the eye on where it should focus as Kris gets his fortuitous shot at being the new Macy’s Santa Claus, the overly spread-out bustle is too much to take in without feeling like details are being missed.

Miracle on 34th Street settles down once the action moves to Charles Burchill’s impressive wood-built Macy’s set, where Kris works his indefatigable charm through comical means that uphold the true spirit of Christmas, rather than commercial profits. Augmenting the new hire’s appeal are flustered middle manager Shellhammer (Jack Heinen) and the department’s store elves, led by Riley Oswald’s plucky Elf Q. A steady source of entertainment, the green-clad youths resemble silent-film stars through their humorous facial expressions and restraint of each other when the urge arises to give Kris’ eventual tormenters a knuckle sandwich.

The good vs. evil conflict, however, is one of many side narratives where the script lets the production down, bizarrely under-developing numerous components that past tellings of this story handled just fine. While Daniel Walton excels in his handful of scenes as nefarious in-hour psychologist Sawyer, he isn’t given the opportunity to be truly menacing before making a surprisingly early exit. And while young Paige Gorczynski is an admirable Susan, the lack of miking renders many of her lines indecipherable.

Elsewhere, the romance between Susan’s overworked Macy’s associate mom Doris (Rachel Adams) and her kind neighbor/babysitter Fred (Gavin Brown) is sadly rushed, and Vaughn barely gets to speak in Act II, which centers on the trial to prove whether or not he is in fact Santa Claus. Though a sufficiently engaging stretch, bolstered by Brown’s nice-guy crusading efforts as Kris’ attorney and the adaptability of Burchill’s set without changing much, the closing run noticeably lacks the star’s peppy involvement as he’s forced to sit back and toss out the occasional chuckle or comment.

The final 15-20 minutes likewise suffer from a surplus of asides that impede the story’s flow, while other scenes are hampered by directorial oversight. Chief among them is the famous moment when the postal service reroutes letters addressed to Santa Claus to the bench of Judge Harper (Mary Ann Heinen) — a seemingly easy visual gag that’s reduced from its usual crowd-pleasing deluge of envelopes to a mere pair of medium-sized bags.

Further limiting its power is that this version of Miracle on 34th Street doesn’t give audiences a big final moment, instead quietly fizzling to a perfectly acceptable heartwarming conclusion. The decent level of good cheer is enough to send attendees back out into the world with a smile, but the overall results weren’t enough on opening night to warrant the usual standing ovation that ACT productions — especially holiday-themed ones — have more than earned.

Miracle on 34th Street runs through Dec. 20 at Asheville Community Theatre. For details and tickets, visit ashevilletheatre.org.

(Photo by Studio Misha Photography)