On a snowy Christmas Eve an aging puppeteer performs a festive show for hospitalized children which gifts him with a miraculous memory of his late partner. This leads to a surreal performance in a forgotten and shuttered Orpheum theater which unlocks a life-affirming reconciliation that allows him to honor Clark’s memory—and find a renewed sense of purpose.

SYNOPSIS:

Similar in spirit to the life-affirming “It’s a Wonderful Life” and the classic “Miracle on 34th Street.”

The story begins with Warren, a 60-something puppeteer, who travels the wintry city streets to perform a puppet show for cancer patients at a downtown hospital. He is a man shaped by devotion and loneliness, carrying an ache for his partner Clark, who died after a long illness. Their love began with a playful Harpo Marx routine at a Halloween party—their “mirror” moment that hinted at a shared life of humor and tenderness. Before Clark faded, he whispered, “I’ll save you a seat at the Orpheum,” a line Warren never forgot.

On his way to the hospital, Warren encounters an elf-like Himalayan clerk at the Shambala Smoke Shop who offers a “figgy pudding” medicine to ease his arthritic hands. However the remedy carries a magical and surreal side effect. After the inspiring marionette performance Warren goes past the boarded Orpheum which is now alive back to its 1925 vaudeville glory where Marx Brother’s “Cocoanuts” is performed. To his dismay Clark holds a seat for him to share the experience of their comedy heroes. After the show Clark confides in Warren that he must share his love and love is ageless.

As Warren leaves the theater he slips and hits his head into unconsciousness. He wakes in the hospital where an elderly doctor, who delighted in the puppet show, cares for him. With Clark’s encouragement and permission he gets the nerve to ask the doctor to share a Christmas dinner.

CHRISTMAS AT THE ORPHEUM