Good afternoon, internet.

I love an intense drama as much as the next theatre nerd. Shakespeare? I do not bite my tongue at you, sir. Tennessee Williams? Call me Stella. But sometimes, all I want is to escape into a world of hope, happiness, and light. Sometimes, I want to be hugged by a cheesy Hallmark holiday movie.

So, when I heard that there was a new holiday musical called “Chris, Mrs.” coming to Toronto this December, I started strategising about when would be the right time to send a friendly note to the show’s PR person, Katie (hi Katie!). Fortuitously, Katie reached out before I did, and she connected me to the show’s lovely creators, Katie Kerr and Matt Stodolak (not to be confused with PR Katie), for an interview. Kismet!

Katie and Matt had a real-life meet-cute – they met and fell in love performing in a different Christmas musical. They took a spark of an idea and cultivated it into a full-scale show at one of Toronto’s largest theatres, with an all-Canadian, all-star cast of 21 performers. I love supporting new theatre, the Canadian theatre ecosystem, and nice people, so I’m so happy to share with you my interview with Katie & Matt.

The Chris, Mrs. team was gracious enough to provide a discount code for readers of this blog – use my code GIRL15 for 15% off tickets (click the unlock button to access the deal). I’m not being paid to promote this show (lol goals), but I was invited to review this show, so I hope to see some of you there! And with that, please enjoy my interview with Katie and Matt:

Katie Kerr & Matt Stodolak, by Rob Anzit Photography

Lori: Hi, Katie and Matt! Thanks for sitting down with me today. Let’s dive right in – what inspired you to write a new holiday musical?

Katie: Matt and I met officially the second time we did Elf two years in a row [Katie was an actor in the show, Matt a musician]. We were at two different theatre companies, located close together, doing the exact same Christmas show two years in a row. It became obvious to us that there is a lack of Christmas content in the general – and especially Canadian – musical theatre cannon. We both love the holidays, we met during the holidays, and it just seemed like a really great place to start writing from….and it quickly turned into COVID.

Matt: Yeah. Our traditions, which we may have taken for granted before…every year we go to grandma’s house for X, Y, Z…it wasn’t happening. It became very apparent the value traditions have in our lives. And that became a real driving force for the reason for the show.

Lori: Tell me more about how you two met!

Katie: Yeah, funny story. I was in the basement between shows rehearsing a self-tape for another audition for a show, and I was using an instrumental track, singing over and over again. And then somebody knocks on the door (it’s Matt), and he’s like, “You know, if you want me to play the music for you instead of using a track, I can.” And in my mind I didn’t really know who he was, and I was just like, “Yeah, sure. What are the odds you’d know how to play this music better than the track?” The odds are pretty good, it turns out. The best part of it is that I was mid-recording when he knocked on the door. That first interaction of ours, the “meet-cute,” was all on tape.

Lori: That in itself sounds like the plot of a Hallmark movie. I guess the burning question on everyone’s mind is…did you book that job?

Katie: Covid happened. So we’ll never know! But I think I got the better end of the deal.

Lori: Definitely. So you meet, you fall in love, and you start writing a musical. Can you chat about what it’s like working with your significant other?

Matt: I think we’ve seen this model work quite a bit where couples are writing musicals. The couple from Come from Away: David [Hein] and Irene [Sankoff]; Frozen: Kristen [Anderson-Lopez] and Roberto [Lopez]; Brian [Hill] and Neil [Bartram] who wrote The Theory of Relativity… I think there are real advantages to writing a musical with someone who at the very least you share residency with. You’re always there, so you can talk about an idea without scheduling meetings. It also works well because as a couple, we know how to be vulnerable with each other, so we always come at everything from the point of view of what’s the best idea, what’s best for the show, with very little ego involved…I mean, I’m sure there’s some [ego] involved sometimes, as people fight for their idea [laughs].

Lori: Do you ever find it difficult to separate work life from personal life, especially when you’re living with the person that you’re working with? I also noticed you’re both on the production team, as well. How do you balance your personal life along with your artistic and production duties?

Matt: I wouldn’t say it’s ever difficult.

Katie: It’s just a puzzle.

Matt: Yeah.

Katie: And prioritizing. Everything needs to get done eventually, but what has the immediate clock on it, and what can come first, and what do you have the energy for? The creative aspects really fulfill us and make us happy, and even though they sometimes take a little bit longer than the production components – scheduling, the bit more “boring” aspects of it…I think we try to carve out enough time to do both so that you’re not resenting the moment that you’re in.

Matt: Yeah. We always say 1 plus 1 equals 3 in terms of working together, because the benefits of working with your partner far outweigh any additional challenges.

Katie: You do have to sometimes be at a place where it’s like, “I don’t have time to get into an in-depth argument about the ending of this song currently.” So there is a balance to be had, for sure. But really, I don’t think it’s ever possible, for those who have been fortunate or unfortunate to have been bitten by the theatre bug, to truly separate your personal life from your work life, from theatre in itself. We just sort of sit in the content place of knowing that they co-exist and there isn’t only time for one. It’s just scheduling what takes precedence.

Lori: Tell me a bit about your writing process.

Matt: In terms of the stereotypical question of “what comes first, the music or the lyrics?” It depends…We steal directly from Stephen Sondheim’s wisdom: “Content dictates form, less is more, god is in the details, all in the service of clarity.” Sometimes I’ll have a melodic idea, sometimes Katie will have a lyric idea. We don’t have a tried-and-true method.

Katie: In terms of the breakdown, typically I write the lyrics and Matt writes the music. Very often, we [start with] a melodic pattern and go from there. But there have been songs where I have a lyric idea and just run with it, and I’ll come to Matt and say, “Please put music to this. I think the lyrics are great.” It really does depend on the song and the creative juices at the time, and who’s got more energy and who kind of runs further first. And then we sort of meet in the middle and piece it together.

Lori: How would you describe the musical style of the show?

Katie: For this show in particular, because it is sort of multi-generational, one of the jumping off points that we found helpful was, “What is the audio-vernacular of a particular character? Who do they listen to? What kind of music resonates with them? And how can we write in a style that would express them in that way, in that moment?” So the younger character, her song has a kind of early Taylor Swift vibe. Young love, that sort of sugary pop sound. Whereas our lead female character, who’s in her mid-30s and feeling a bit lost…we’ve got more of an Alanis Morissette, Vanessa Carlton vibe, more adult in the melodic themes and in some of the concepts and language that we use in those songs.

Matt: Yeah, and that’s back to rule #1: content dictates form. Back to that Taylor Swift example, young love, everything’s larger than life, all of the emotions are dialed up to 11. So there’s an element of [Taylor Swift’s] “You Belong with Me,” “Love Story” in there because that is the emotion we’re trying to capture.

Katie: Also, that song in particular is called “All I Want for Christmas” (not the Mariah Carey version).

Matt: It’s kind of an inside joke. [Laughing].

Katie: But that song also has a bit of a [Hairspray] “I Can Hear the Bells”…she starts to fantasize her whole life with this person after the moment that they meet. So that was sort of an inspiration in terms of that…being excited, and it snowballing, for lack of a better winter term, into this entire fantasy.

Lori: Yes, I heard the song, and it’s quite charming! I won’t give away the punchline in my blog, I promise. It’s just very cute. I want to ask one more production-related question. I think a question on a lot of my readers’ mind is “how do you take a show from an idea into a full-blown production?”

Matt: I would say the necessary thing to take a show from a workshop [to a production] is people. A strong team. There’s only so far we can get on our own. After the workshop, it becomes about your collaborators – your cast, your choreographer, set designer, costume designer, technical director…all these people who help fill out the meat and the bones of the piece in and of itself. Beyond that, it’s “what’s the space?” We were lucky that we’re close to the [Winter Garden Theatre in Toronto] where we’re premiering the show, so we got to know the theatre quite well, and design the show specifically for its technical specifications.

Lori: Tell me more about the workshop you held last December in Stratford. How has the show evolved?

Katie: Chris, Mrs. started in Matt’s parents’ basement in Hamilton, on a white board, on the floor. And there have been probably a hundred variations of the show, where the magic was more real, we go to the north pole, and see more of Christmasy content. And a version where there’s a big concert at the end. [To Matt] Remember that concert?

Matt: [Laughing] I’m still fighting for it!

Katie: [Laughing] It doesn’t happen! But it existed for a long time, and we kept trying to shoehorn things to get us there, and eventually it became obvious that it didn’t need to be there. But with so many versions…when you have a hundred different threads in your head…getting it in front of anyone, just to hear the vernacular, how it sits in people’s mouths, it makes such a difference. Did you write too much for your own voice, either in the script, in the book itself, or in the music? Because it was just the two of us for so long, a lot of the keys of the songs fit our voices. And we get to the workshop, and get it into other people’s bodies, and they’ve got a facility that Matt and I don’t have. You know, my vocal type is more of a mixed soprano, where we have Danielle Wade in this part, who has just like the world’s most beautiful belt, unbelievable range in the world. And so what we wrote for my voice needed to be shifted to fit Danielle and what she can do.

Matt: And during the workshop process in Stratford, we wrote a song within 48 hours specifically for [Danielle’s] voice. The melodic elements were built around her instrument. So, again, back to the point that it’s your collaborators who help propel it from a workshop to something that’s a living, breathing stage organism.

Katie: Yeah, and the idea for that new song came from a table read on the first or second day [of the workshop], where we sort of opened it up to the floor. And there’s always a risk in that if you’re not confident in your material, you may get a ton of clashing ideas, and then you start ripping it apart…but we were confident in the bones of this show, and there were moments that we were looking for [the cast’s] opinion. There were some great questions around character relationships and why characters were making certain choices. For Danielle’s character, there was an opportunity to develop a song for a defining moment for her character’s growth, which existed only as a couple of lines before…we went home and came back the next day with a song, and [Danielle] sang it the following day.

Lori: And she probably sang it perfectly, too. She’s an incredible talent.

Katie: Yeah, unbelievable. We were super lucky, as you mentioned our workshop was in Stratford [home of the Stratford Theatre Festival]…because their seasons go so long into October and November, Stratford performers typically aren’t eligible for Christmas work. So there was a plethora of unbelievably talented, seasoned actors that had two weeks in December last year and were able to be a part of this workshop.

Matt: And in their hometown, for almost everyone.

Katie: It was sort of an avalanche of talent that we couldn’t have planned if we tried. So many incredible people were really interested in wanting to stay with the piece as it continued to evolve, so for this production, we have to start our rehearsal process slightly later than most Christmas companies [in order to wait until the Stratford season is over]. But we got a lot accomplished in that workshop that we’re able to utilize and subsidize the time that we don’t have this year to rehearse.

Lori: Let’s shift gears to some quick fun questions. What are you most excited about for opening night?

Matt: I always find it incredibly fulfilling to hear the first laugh, or the first applause. And sometimes it surprises you where it might have come up…it might not be where you intended in the script, so I think that’s the ultimate sense of fulfillment, when you see how it actually lands on people. That’s what I’m looking forward to.

Katie: Absolutely. I think what’s important in our family, especially over the last few years, is shared experiences…I’m excited to see people coming together to maybe make a new tradition. I’m excited to see people not just enjoy our show, but to be out and enjoying a communal event again. And [The Winter Garden Theatre] itself is so beautiful and engaging with all the foliage, even the staircases in the lobby. As a kid, my mom took me to see the Rockettes, and I remember not just the show but the lobby and the grandness of it all.

Lori: Do you have a favourite moment or song from the show? It probably changes all the time, but what’s your gut response right now?

Katie: [Laughs] I think the end of Act I is my favourite. Going back to when we were talking about how we write things, it’s a song that I wrote top-to-bottom lyric-wise, and just said to Matt, “This is what I hear, can you make this work?” And Matt didn’t love it at first [Matt shyly smiles at Katie..they’re really cute guys], mostly because it was one that wasn’t super…that we didn’t do together…[to Matt] Don’t give me those eyes!

Matt: You’re embarrassing me in front of Lori!

[They both laugh. My heart has exploded].

Katie: But it was one that wasn’t as collaborative, and so I think there was a little bit of friction in terms of its existence.

Matt: But it works so well.

Katie: It works so well, and what Sarah Vance (our choreographer) has planned on top of just the vocal impact of the number, and now we have the set renderings. It’s a song that really could live as a cabaret number, but it’s now got this whole exterior life on top that just elevates it to a whole next level. I just think it’s a great way to end the act, to walk out into the lobby…

Matt: It’s an unexpected act break. The song that comes before it would typically be the act break number, “A Christmas Song,” but then after that comes the one that comes after it called “Vicki’s Lament.”

Lori: Yes, and you cast Olivia Sinclair-Brisbane in this role, if I remember correctly. She’s awesome.

Katie: Yes, we’re so lucky to have her. She’s had such a season with Rent…and she is one of our newcomers that wasn’t in the workshop initially, so we’re so excited to see what she brings to it and the energy that she brings to Vicki. [To Matt] What’s your favourite song?

Matt: I think my favourite is probably the first song in the show called “Just Another Jingle.” I don’t want to say why, though, because it’s a bit of a surprise. I think it’s going to surprise the audience in a good way, right away, about what they’re seeing.

Lori: I saw on your website that you describe the show as combining “the whimsy of a Hallmark movie with the spectacle of stage.” Is there anything else that could help people understand what they’re getting themselves into (without giving away too much)?

Katie: Absolutely! I would say, think “The Santa Clause” meets “The Sound of Music.” There are holiday elements, it’s all of these sort of Hallmarkian tropes that are familiar and nostalgic, while having a lot of heart, a lot of humour, and that spectacle of live dance and live vocal performance. The bare bones of the story are: these young kids find a ring in their fathers’ suitcase, and they’re worried he’s going to propose to his socialite girlfriend, who they don’t like, so they write to Santa for assistance. Lots of holiday humour ensues.

Lori: Just to close us out, I’d love to know about any future plans you have for the show! I know Elf goes to Broadway almost every year, the Rockettes’ Radio City Christmas Spectacular…are we thinking big?

Matt: I mean, that would be a dream come true. That’s not really up to us. Hopefully the audiences tell us that they want it. Right now, we’re fully focused on making this production the best it can be, making sure everyone coming has an excellent experience, and that the company has a great time creating it together.

Katie: Yeah. Christmas and holiday content is sort of a double-edged sword. There is a cyclical nature where [the shows] come every year and you can do them every year, but they also only exist for November, December, the first week of January. We would love to make a name for the show in and of itself, both this side of the border and south. And eventually, down the road, licensing would be great. It’s a show that is really accessible for regional theatre companies to do. It’s multi-generational – we’ve got young kids about 8-10, plus there’s a teenage love story, plus we’ve got the middle-aged main characters. So hopefully it will resonate well. We’re really putting all of our effort into this first year to get some good buzz and feedback, and hopefully that will start the train rolling.

Lori: Well I’m really excited to get on board! I love a Hallmark movie, and this show was on my radar before Katie reached out. Is there anything else you want to say to my readers before we conclude?

Katie: It’s an exciting time for sure, especially for Canadian theatre. There isn’t a Christmas musical running long-term in the GTA this year, so if musicals are your thing, and you’re looking for something over the holidays, we really suggest you check out Chris, Mrs., whether it’s for your family, for a date night, for a work trip, a girls’ trip…it really does have an appeal to all, and we would love to see everybody there!

Thank you to Matt and Katie for chatting with me, and thanks to PR Katie (aka Katie Saunoris), for making the introduction. Chris, Mrs. is playing at The Winter Garden Theatre in downtown Toronto from Dec. 5-31, 2023. You can purchase tickets here, and make sure to use the code GIRL15 to get 15% off your tickets! (Note that they’re currently running a 25% off Black Friday Sale for the first 2 weeks of shows, so use that deal instead. It’s auto-applied).

Featured image: Provided by Chris Mrs. production team