Hazel Vogel plays the dubious Susan, interrogating Robert Biedermann as Santa, in the musical Miracle on 34th Street, playing at Toby’s Dinner Theatre through January 7. Photo by Jeri Tidwell Photography

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It all started when Robert Biedermann did his regular “warm-up” routine at Toby’s Dinner Theatre, dressed in a sparkling Santa suit with a twinkle in his eye. Who else of Toby’s coterie of actors could better play Kris Kringle in the musical version of Miracle on 34th Street and bring such sincerity and warmth to the role?

The show, directed superbly by Shawn Kettering and choreographed skillfully by Mark Minnick, is of course based on the popular 1947 holiday film of the same name. The musical version of the film had its Broadway premiere in 1963.

The play begins with a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, including clowns, majorettes, a snowman, and finally a Santa Claus on sleigh (Biedermann) charging through Toby’s theatre-in-the-round.

Kris Kringle, hired to play Santa Claus for Macy’s Department store, will soon meet and in some cases confront store manager Doris Walker (played with passionate cynicism by Heather Marie Beck), her disbelieving daughter Susan (Hazel Vogel, who alternates with Audrey Wolff for some performances), young Marine-turned-lawyer Fred Gaily (Jeffrey Shankle), businessman R.H. Macy (Jordan B. Stocksdale), and finally the store psychologist Mr. Sawyer (Shane Lowry).

All of these individuals, to one degree or another, must learn more about the spirit of Christmas from a man claiming to be Santa Claus himself. Yet will society at large begin to question Kris Kringle’s sanity?

Broadway-style numbers

The musical Miracle on 34th Street was written and composed by Meredith Willson, and there is much of the “Seventy-Six Trombones” parading sound of Willson’s more famous 1957 musical, The Music Man, in several numbers.

“(Ya Got) Trouble in River City” aligns with “She Hadda Go Back,” performed energetically by Shankle as Fred Gaily, who as a young lawyer must take up the unenviable legal case that the Santa in Macy’s toy department is “the one and only Santa Claus.”

The tunes are more Broadway than Christmas-oriented, yet there is also holiday fare here, namely Willson’s Christmas anthem, “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,” sung brightly in chorus by the ensemble. (An older carol, “Adeste Fidelis,” is also performed, at Kris Kringle’s insistence.)

Talented newcomer Hazel Vogel performs the part of Susan wonderfully, and duets warmly with Biedermann on “Expect Things to Happen,” as the young girl slowly begins to believe in Santa Claus.

Doris/Heather performs with a lovely voice in the selection “You Don’t Know.” Cynical about life and love, Doris also begins to believe again in love as Gaily enters her life. (Indeed, the original 1963 Broadway incarnation of Willson’s show was entitled Here’s Life.)

David James has a delightful comic turn singing “Plastic Alligators” as Marvin Shellhammer, a Macy’s manager who must rid himself of an enormous overstock of plastic alligator toys he purchased. (For those who have seen the original film countless times, there are moments like this added to the musical to offer freshness to the story.)

Shane Lowry as Mr. Sawyer, David Bosley-Reynolds as the Judge, and Patrick Gover as Mr. Gimbel all perform supporting parts with a talented mix of humor and seriousness.

Live band, period costumes

The six-piece band at Toby’s (conducted variously by Ross Scott Rawlings and Nathan Scavilla, depending on the performance) is excellent. As usual at Toby’s, it seems as if a small orchestra is playing.

Period costumes by Sarah King are spot-on and provide a clever ambiguity between the 1940s (when the film is set) and the early 1960s (when the Broadway musical takes place).

The scenic design of David A. Hopkins and the lighting design by Lynn Joslin work together to full advantage in order to accentuate the holiday atmosphere of the production, including the “snow” that descends on the stage from the ceiling.

Toby’s production of Miracle on 34th Street is not only entertaining holiday fare but carries a deeper message while “dashing through the snow.”

As Doris eventually learns, “Faith is believing when common sense tells you not to.” To rephrase that idea in more religious terms for the season, “Faith is…the evidence of things not seen,” (Hebrews 11:1).

Miracle on 34th Street is a family-friendly production that runs through January 7. Toby’s is located at 5900 Symphony Woods Rd. in Columbia. Advance reservations are required.

Performances take place Tuesday through Sunday nights, with matinees on Wednesday and Sunday at 12:30 p.m. (buffet brunch for matinees opens at 10:30 a.m.).

Tickets are $74-$79 for adults and $57-$60 for children 12 and under. All tickets include an all-you-can-eat buffet (brunch or dinner).

Those 65 and over may attend any Tuesday or Wednesday performance for $62.90. Tickets may be purchased from Ticketmaster or by phone from the box office at (410) 730-8311 or via tobysdinnertheatre.com.