Tough Love for the Holidays

First, an ambitious tree learns a life lesson in “The Fir Tree,” by Hans Christian Andersen, performed by James Naughton. Andersen (1805 - 1875) achieved worldwide fame for writing more than 160 innovative and influential fairy tales such as “The Ugly Duckling,” “The Princess and the Pea,” and “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” which remain classics of the genre. His stories have inspired ballets, plays, and animated and live-action films such as The Little Mermaid and Frozen.

Reader James Naughton has won Tony Awards as Best Actor in a Musical for City of Angels and Chicago. On Broadway, he directed the Tony-nominated productions of Arthur Miller's The Price and Thornton Wilder's Our Town, starring Paul Newman. He also directed the television production of Our Town for Showtime and Masterpiece Theatre. He has appeared in numerous films and television shows, including The Devil Wears Prada, Damages, Gossip Girl, Ally McBeal, Planet of the Apes, Hostages, The Blacklist,The Affair, and Equity, and The Independents, written and directed by his son Greg Naughton.

God lets her hair down in our second piece, “Interview with God,” by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. Rosenthal (1965 - 2017) was the author of more than thirty children’s books, four memoirs, including The Book of Eleven: An Itemized Collection of Brain Lint and Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life, and a line of keepsake journals. She was also the creator of the short films 17 Things I Made, The Kindness Thought Bubble, and The Reckoning of Lovely. Rosenthal’s work was featured in The New York Times, Hallmark Magazine, McSweeney’s, and Parenting, among other publications, and she was a frequent contributor to NPR and the TED Conference.

Her cheeky piece is performed by James Naughton and Jayne Atkinson, who is best known for her long-running roles on the television series 24, Criminal Minds, and House of Cards. A two-time Tony nominee, she has appeared on Broadway in All My Sons, The Rainmaker, Ivanov, Enchanted April, for which she won an Outer Critics Circle Award, and Blithe Spirit. Additional film and television credits include The Good Wife, Law & Order, The Education of Max Bickford, Syrianna, Recount, Free Willy, and The Village. Atkinson also appeared inThe Clean House at the Williamstown Theatre Festival and is married to fellow Shorts reader, Michel Gill.

We finish this holiday show with a bang—literally. In Kurt Vonnegut’s hilarious “A Present for Big Saint Nick,” a pushy gangster makes a not-so-jolly Santa. Vonnegut (1922 - 2007) was the New York Times bestselling author of numerous books, including Cat’s Cradle, Breakfast of Champions, and Slaughterhouse-Five, which is ranked 18th on The Modern Library’s list of 100 Best Novels. His other works include God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater; Welcome to the Monkey House; Deadeye Dick; Galapagos; Hocus Pocus; and Timequake. Vonnegut was an honorary president of the American Humanist Association until his death in 2007.

Reader Tate Donovan has appeared in numerous films, including Manchester by the Sea, Argo, Good Night and Good Luck, Memphis Belle, Ethan Frome, Love Potion #9, Clean and Sober, and the title voice in Disney’s animated feature Hercules. His television credits include The Man in the High Castle, 24, Hostages, Deception, Damages, The OC, and Friends. Donovan has appeared on Broadway in Good People, Amy’s View, and Picnic, and has performed Off-Broadway in Lobby Hero and The Medieval Play. He has also directed several episodes of Madame Secretary, Deception, Damages, Glee, Weeds, Gossip Girl, Nip/Tuck, The OC, and Bloodline, as well as the ESPN documentary Arthur and Johnnie about the tennis star Arthur Ashe, for which he won an Emmy Award. He will appear in the forthcoming film The Upside with Bryan Cranston and Kevin Hart