IP Attorney Mounts His Last Production of 'Miracle on 34th St.,' a Del. Holiday Tradition
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Family Court Chief Judge Michael K. Newell on Thursday declared that Kris Kringle is, in fact, Santa Claus, as the Delaware courts continued a holiday season tradition of performing the courtroom scene of Miracle on 34th Street for local school children.
This week's schedule of performances marked the end of intellectual property attorney Richard K. Herrmann's time at the helm of the annual event he launched more than 14 years ago.
Started in 2004, the annual production features a cast of prominent figures from Delaware’s legal community, who take turns reprising roles from the 1947 film starring Maureen O'Hara and John Payne.
Herrmann, a Morris James partner who negotiated the production rights from 20th Century Fox, has institutionalized the performance in the First State, the only jurisdiction to his knowledge to put on a yearly showing of the Christmas classic.
Herrmann, who is relinquishing production duties after this year, said he came up with the idea after seeing the movie with his wife in the late 1990s and decided to use the yearly reenactment to introduce kids to the courtroom in a “friendly, nonthreatening way.”
“The idea of getting kids in from a civics point of view ... it just seemed like a good idea at the time, and once you see the way the kids react to it, you know it’s a good idea,” he said.
The film studio, he said, allowed him to use the film rights under fair use, so long as he limited the production to 12 shows per year and didn't charge admission or record it. But with a cast that features state attorneys general and Supreme Court justices, Herrmann had 20th Century Fox memorialize the agreement in a letter.
“We’ve stuck to the agreement in the letter ever since,” he said.
Herrmann said he formally renewed the agreement for several years, but now he just adheres to the original pact.
Thursday’s performance in Wilmington followed six others earlier in the week in Sussex and Kent Counties. Three more were slated for Friday, with Attorney General Matt Denn set to play the prosecutor.
Former attorney general M. Jane Brady, who has participated every year, played the coveted role of Kringle’s defense attorney, becoming the first actor to play all three lawyers in the iconic scene. She tussled with retired attorney Charles Coates, as she tried to convince a skeptical Newell of her client’s sanity in the face of allegations that Kringle—played by Family Court Judge James C. McGiffin Jr.—was just a delusional department store version of Old Saint Nick.
Herrmann, playing the state’s head psychologist, testified that Kringle had lost his mind, and Shelia M. Davis of the AOC spoke of Kringle’s behalf as the owner of Macy’s.
Ultimately, the judge was swayed by the dramatic testimony of Postmaster Sean O’Sullivan, chief of community relations for the Administrative Office of the Courts, who presented bags of letters written to Santa and provided Kringle’s ultimate vindication.
After 14 years, Herrmann is ready to turn administrative duties for the play to O’Sullivan, though Herrmann said he plans to still participate in the coming years. Morris James, or another law firm, would provide staff to help organize the event.
Invitations go out to all Delaware elementary schools a year ahead of time, and the cast convenes to a rehearsal in early December. In total, they order some 1,500 candy canes to give to the more than 1,000 students who attend each year.
“It’s really been very successful,” Herrmann said. “It’s the best week of the year.”
