OCEAN CITY – If you’re not in the holiday spirit yet, come to the Ocean City Music Pier Friday, Saturday and Sunday to witness the Greater Ocean City Theatre Company’s annual Holiday Spectacular.
“You’re going to get family friendly, high-energy classic holiday song and dance and you’re not going to want to miss this show,” said director and choreographer Brendan Maly.
“I think it’s a fantastic way to spend the holidays,” cast member Zachary Debevec said. “This show has every kind of holiday covered and it’s full of holiday cheer. We’re just a bundle of energy and I think that anybody who comes to the show, no matter what age, will enjoy it.”
“The show is filled with high energy and spirit,” said fellow cast member Carrie McKnight. “It brings different audiences together from all ages, ethnicities and religious groups as well. I’m glad we get a chance to showcase the Jewish community, the Gospel music we do with the Christian faith and tie it together with tributes to Mariah Carey that I have the pleasure of singing in the show.”
All of the performers in the five shows over three days are professionals doing a family-oriented song and dance tribute to the holidays. The OCTC touts the dazzling costumes, familiar songs, special guests, special effects and toe-tapping numbers. This year’s production features new musical numbers, including a Christmas at the beach section, an “explosive” gospel song and a Broadway tap Winter Wonderland finale, according to the company.
McKnight notes that the tribute to Mariah Carey means filling some very big shoes “but I’m very respectful of the work that she does and I put in a snippet of what she brings to the pieces and well as what is entirely my own with my voice. It’s going to be great for the audience to see it.”
McKnight grew up singing in the church since childhood and did choir and musical theater. She has worked with “wonderful voice teachers of many different levels” helping her progress in her professional career, which she terms as a blessing.
“We’re all professionals (in the cast) and we come from different companies so it’s great to bring us all together. I’m from Maryland so it’s nice to travel here to do this production,” she said.
Debevec loves the dancing aspect of the show.
Dancing, he said, “is one of my favorite things to do. I didn’t get started until later on in college and I have trained at Princeton Ballet School, Broadway Dance Center in New York City and I’m having a blast doing it.”
In college, one of his best friends took him, reluctantly, to his first class.
“I never really thought about dance until she dragged me to my first class and I fell in love with it,” he said. “I grew up doing martial arts and gymnastics so I kind of knew about my body and how to move from that.”
Both of the cast members love their time with the Ocean City Theatre Company.
“These are some of the greatest and most talented people I’ve ever met,” Debevec said. “I worked with Carrie last year in the Christmas spectacular, ‘Swinging into the Holidays,’ and every time that we’re here it’s just so professional. The community is so nice and so welcoming. We just have a blast being here.”
McKnight enjoys the bonding “that we all have as a cast and with our creative team. Everyone is so supportive and hands-on with one another. It’s really helpful for us putting on the shows, asking questions with our wonderful choreographer and director … and then bringing it all together as a final result for our audience and enjoying the Christmas spirit and singing a lot of songs that will bring them back. It’s really a blessing to see that.”
Maly, of Bloomingdale, N.J., may be familiar to OCTC faithful.
He started with OCTC in 2017. Among the productions he was Mike in “A Chorus Line,” LeFou in “Beauty and the Beast” and Willy Wonka in the show by the same name.
He directed and choreographed his first show in 2019 with the Junior Company. This is his first time pulling double duty with the professional company.
“It’s a lot of fun, a lot of stress, but it’s totally worth it in the end,” he said. “It really puts the triple threat of acting, singing and dancing to the test and I’m happy to do it.
“It’s so exciting getting to work with professionals from New York and Philadelphia,” Maly added. He’s worked with a lot of the cast members as a fellow actor, but being their director and choreographer “is a whole different game and a lot of fun.”
However, he’s not ready to limit his options.
“I am still bitten by the performance bug but this new directing and choreographic world is an interesting one to be in and I might stay a little bit longer,” he said.
Times are 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 16, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 17, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 18, at the Music Pier, Moorlyn Terrace and the Boardwalk. There is plenty of free parking.
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
