Every year, Charles Edward Hall dons an iconic red suit and white beard, preparing for the role he's played for the last 27 years. He is famously known as Santa to the 26 million people who've attended the Radio City Christmas Spectacular and to the readers of the book he recently co-authored, "Santa Claus is for Real." Charles talks with Kate on Sounds Good about his journey as Santa, his new book, and an upcoming performance for the Twilight Theatre's summer fundraiser.
Charles was not always the Santa millions know and love. There was a time, he says, when he was just another actor searching for a break. His big break came with the role of Ebenezer Scrooge in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, but on one condition - that he also play the small role of Santa. It was then he realized the Spirit of Santa had always been with him.
"The goodness and joy and the spirit has always been with us," Charles says. "It's something that we want to sustain through all of our lives, but it's very difficult as we grow up and we're taught about money and power and society."
Charles began to communicate with that joyful Santa spirit at a young age. To him, Santa is not just a man in a red suit with a long, white beard. Instead, Santa is a combination of magic and a joyful spirit.
"That spirit is part of the magic of believing," he says. "If you can believe in something you can imagine it, create it and manifest it. I like to say that Santa, that spirit is with us all the time."
He agrees with Kate that one of Santa's core virtues is humility, though he says it's an evasive human quality that has ebbed and flowed in and out of his own life.
"We gain it and we lose it," he says. " If I could wear this suit all the time, I'd be a much better person. So I try to wear the suit in my heart."
"The Magic of Believing," an evening with Charles Edward Hall will be held at Kenlake State Resort Park this Friday and Saturday and July 25 at 7:30 p.m. Donations will go to Twilight Theatre Productions.
