‘Miracle on 34th Street’ reimagined: How StoryBook Theatre brings Santa’s trial into 2025

What would it actually look like if Santa Claus ended up on trial? That question sits at the heart of StoryBook Theatre’s new production of Miracle on 34th Street, a musical that blends nostalgia with a deliberate push toward modern relevance.

For actors Erin Navarro and Tomas Grahame, the creative process has been less about recreating the 1947 film and more about interpreting it for audiences who live in a far more skeptical age.

“It’s definitely been a challenge,” Navarro says the team has worked to make the show unique while still honouring the story’s roots and finding moments that resonate with people.

Much of that work happens in the text itself. Meredith Willson’s musical adaptation dates back to the 1960s, with references and rhythms that reflect a different cultural moment. Grahame says the cast spent early rehearsals exploring how to bring new meaning to those words.

“A lot of the work that we had to do was finding what we could do to elevate the source material and bring almost a new context to the words that were written by Meredith Wilson back in the 1960s,” Grahame explains.  He says while some references feel quaint, they’ve had “to pull it together and make it something that feels fresh and magical for audiences today.”

Navarro intentionally avoided rewatching the film before rehearsals to keep the work grounded in this production rather than nostalgia. Doris Walker, she says, becomes a character shaped by real-world cynicism rather than the mid-century idealism of the original.

“She really clings to her disbelief in Santa Claus because it makes her feel safer,” Navarro says.

Her journey is less about whimsical transformation and more about the risk involved in letting yourself believe again.

The courtroom remains the show’s dramatic centrepiece, but Grahame approaches it with a contemporary lens. His character, attorney Fred Gailey, is tasked with proving Kris Kringle’s identity at a moment when public trust is fractured and facts are constantly contested.

“The most fun thing for me to explore playing Fred Gailey is in the court, where I have to prove that the guy seated next to me is the real Santa,” he says. At first Fred is unsure, “I’m kind of flying by the seat of my pants, seeing what sticks when I throw it.” But as he watches Kris shift the world around him, Fred’s uncertainty gives way to conviction.

“I come to believe… that he actually is the real Santa Claus.”

For both leads, the relevance of the show lies in how belief is tested, defended and sometimes rebuilt.

Miracle on 34^th Street runs through to Dec. 30 at Storybook theatre.