"A Very Northville Christmas"
Tipping Point Theatre
Northville, Mich.
Until Dec. 21, 2025
We all know the story: A successful city girl on the verge of promotion and a power couple engagement returns to her small hometown, where she re-encounters her childhood crush and discovers the true meaning of life and Christmas.
The Hallmark Christmas movie formula is beloved by many and the subject of “A Very Northville Christmas,” a spoof of the cheesy holiday films now playing at Northville’s Tipping Point Theatre.
Directed by Dave Davies. Written by “Robert Hawlmark,” the play stars Meghan Van Arsdalen as “Felice Navi” and Jonathan West as “George Dad” (pronounced “dahd”) as the primary couple, with Melissa Beckwith and Chris Korte supporting with a charming range of bit characters.
When we meet Felice, she’s on the phone telling her semi-alcoholic mother that, once again, she’s too busy with work in the big city and won’t make it home for Christmas. But when her ruthless boss orders her to arrange a real estate takeover of a struggling antique shop – that just happens to be in her hometown of Northville, Mich. – she finds herself home for the holidays after all.
Despite the hot cocoa and saccharine small-town Christmas celebrations, she decides “Christmas is for children and stupid people.” We learn she is still mourning the loss of her father, with whom she had developed an apparently delicious Christmas cookie recipe. Things start to unravel when she re-encounters her high school crush George, a widowed father who is also the town electrician, carpenter, plumber, bovine veterinarian and – gasp – owner of the fledging antique shop she was set out to destroy. With the help of her mother, best friend and random park lady – plus a bout of amnesia – Felice must choose between love and her big-city career.
While I am not on the Hallmark Christmas movie bandwagon, “A Very Northville Christmas” is a charming comedy accessible to Hallmark and non-Hallmark fans alike. Both leads are strong as the stereotypical love interests, but Beckwith and Korte bring the biggest laughs. Constantly changing out sweaters, jackets, glasses and accessories, the two jump collectively among seven different characters with, at times, a cardio workout-like speed.
Beckwith plays Felice’s mother – always ready with Schnapps in hand – as well as her two-dimensional best friend who apparently has no other role in life than to be there for her. She’s also the wise, park lady advisor, reminiscent of the sweet pigeon lady from "Home Alone 2."
Korte is Felice’s boss, big-city boyfriend and George’s father. He’s also Danny, George’s show-stealing son, a sweet, blunt 7-year-old in a Christmas cow sweater, just longing for a new mommy.
The comedy of the multitasking roles is built into the show, with the characters having to creatively jump between two places at once. One of the play’s best moments is when Beckwith, as the mother, leaves the stage to open the door for the park lady, engaging in a hilarious schizophrenic off-stage conversation between the two.
The local setting is also a significant point of comedy, with the show designed to adapt to the town in which its playing (including Farmington Players’ “A Very Farmington Christmas” nearby). While there are lots of references to local shops, the funniest part was designating Ann Arbor – the population 121,000 college town 30 minutes from Northville – as the bustling big city.
In a sea of Santas, garlands, carols, cookies, lights, nativity scenes and shopping, Hallmark Christmas movies have crept into American Christmas traditions, validated by “A Very Northville Christmas” and its adaptations. “A Very Northville Christmas” is a festive inside joke wrapped in a warm hug and a delightful way to get into the Christmas spirit.
