'A Show-Stopping Christmas': Norwell teen sings in Lifetime holiday movie

NORWELL ‒ It’s a daunting responsibility being the voice of Christmas. But Norwell’s Anna Ruffini is up for the challenge in Lifetime's Yuletide story of love and transformation, “A Show-Stopping Christmas.”

Ruffini, 19, sings the upbeat “Merry Christmas One and All” over a cheery montage of a rehearsal for “A Christmas Carol,” the show within the movie. The sequence arrives near the 40-minute mark and captures the joyous cast trying on Victorian-era top hats, cloaks and costumes.

“Christmas … bells are ringing ... Christmas … voices singing … may all your days be warm and bright ...” goes the first stanza, with Ruffini hitting a high note on “bright.”

“I’ve heard the song so many times,” she said. “But it was different to finally see the scene with the actors. That made it all come together.”

The song, which runs just short of 3 minutes, was written by Norwell musician Les Sampou, who doubles as Ruffini’s voice instructor. Scituate’s Edward Grenga, a collaborator with Sampou, composed the movie’s score.

“We knew we wanted a younger voice that would bring out that more youthful expression of Christmas,” Sampou said. “I tend to do more classic Diana Krall Christmas songs.”

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Ruffini recorded the song at Grenga’s house in Scituate. “I had a few takes for each section, and it took us about an hour-and-a-half total, including all the harmonies I also did,” she said.

The 2022 graduate of Norwell High School is now a freshman at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy in Boston. She is the daughter of Jen Ruffini, of Norwell, and Zach Ruffini, of Braintree. She has a younger brother, Lucca, 15.

“My family plays the song all the time now,” she said. “My brother was making fun of me at first. That’s just what he does, but he knows exactly where it is in the movie.”

“Show-Stopping Christmas” is set in the Berkshires, where a Scrooge-like theater owner, played by Maureen Keiller, of Hull, is about to sell the 100-year-old relic to a condominium developer. Riley, the artistic director (Jamie Perez), is determined to make the troupe’s final production so successful that it will spare the theater from the wrecking ball. Thomas McDonell co-stars as the handsome Hollywood star who nabs the part of Bob Cratchit – and Riley’s heart.

The movie was shot at Norwood Theater, standing in for the fictional Onota Theater, during the pandemic. It is directed by prolific Massachusetts filmmaker John Stimpson, who grew up in Wellesley and lives in Princeton. He runs H9 Films in Worcester. In recent years, he made a niche for himself with holiday movies, including "Christmas On Ice," "A Christmas Kiss," "The March Sisters at Christmas," "The Spruces and the Pine" and "A Cape Cod Christmas."

Sampou also lends her voice to the movie, singing the ballad “Christmas With You,” written by Grenga. Their work, which they create “every August in the sweating heat,” has been featured in dozens of holiday movies, such as “A Snow White Christmas,” “A Cinderella Christmas” and “Christmas A La Mode.”  Sampou said writing Christmas music is a nice change of pace to the “really dark, anti-love songs I write most of the time.”

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Ruffini is scheduled to sing “Merry Christmas One and All” on Dec. 4 at Sampou’s gig at the Norwell Public Library. She said working on the movie has her considering additional musical pursuits.

“I don’t do a lot of public things, but I was thinking of starting a band soon,” she said.

As Anna’s mother, Jen, watched “A Show-Shopping Christmas” for the first time, her eyes got misty.

“I just heard my girl’s song in the movie and I’m crying,” she said. “It’s my birthday, and that’s the greatest gift I ever got.”

“A Show-Stopping Christmas” is part of the Lifetime network’s “It’s a Wonderful Lifetime” lineup of holiday offerings. The movie's primetime premiere was Nov. 20, but it can be watched via video on demand or streamed on https://www.mylifetime.com/movies/a-show-stopping-christmas

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Norwell teen sings in Lifetime holiday movie Show-Stopping Christmas