Truman Capote’s short story comes to musical life at the Irish Rep

Adaptations are proving the hardest thing to do these days. There’s always the question of how faithful something should be. A Christmas Memory, a production of the Irish Rep at the DR2 Theatre, is trapped somewhere in the middle. Based on the short story by Truman Capote, this new musical by Larry Grossman (music), Carol Hall (lyrics), and Duane Poole (book) expands upon the tale, first published in 1956, but still gets stuck in the follow-through. The story A Christmas Memory was inspired by Capote’s own experiences growing up in Depression-era Alabama. It’s about a friendship between two innocents, the effete young Buddy (Silvano Spagnuolo) and his adult cousin Sook (Tony winner Alice Ripley), and how they bake fruitcakes each holiday season. Life is tough for Buddy, who dreams of being a tap dancer in Hollywood pictures, while he’s raised by kinfolk (Samuel Cohen and Nancy Hess) rather than his divorcing parents.