BEVERLY — The Grinch emerged from the 99th Street Metra Station in Beverly, arms cast wide, his deep, hearty laugh breaking through the din of traffic.
He made his way to the corner of 99th Street and South Walden Parkway, where studio lights highlighted a holiday-themed set complete with fake snow, Christmas trees, presents and a snowy red carpet.
Almost immediately after the Grinch took up his position at the corner, cars began to honk in encouragement or slow down as passengers held their cell phones out the windows to take photos.
Chris Witherspoon, the man inside the costume, embodied the iconic Dr. Seuss character with his gestures, but added his own spin — pointing menacingly as passersby shouted and cheered, leaning forward in a comical taunt and occasionally breaking character to pump his fists when a car honked.
Most Friday nights when the cafes and businesses close for the evening, the intersection is sedate, aside from the regular traffic. But on this night, it was boisterous with laughter and joy.
That, said podcast producer and hip-hop artist Brandon Hearty, is part of why they do this.
“There was nothing going on here before,” said Hearty. “Now look at it.”
For the past five years, Witherspoon and Hearty have set up a mobile studio at intersections in Beverly to bring holiday excitement to the neighborhood and promote Hearty’s podcast, “I.O.U. <3 Radio.”
This is the first year they’ve appeared at 99th Street. They’ll be there through Thursday and again on Saturday, from 5-9 p.m.
From Halloween To The Holidays
When the duo met in 2019, they saw an opportunity. As an actor, Witherspoon had a collection of costumes — Michael Myers, the Grinch, Santa and more — which he wore for fun visits to his stepson’s school, paid gigs and sometimes just “out of pure joy.”
With Witherspoon’s costumes and Hearty’s photo equipment and production know-how, they joined forces to film their antics and offer people photos with holiday characters.
They started with a Michael Myers costume during the Halloween season.
“I just put the camera on him, and he’s a whole show,” said Hearty.
They hadn’t planned on offering photos until a woman walked by with her children and asked, “How much are the photos?”
Hearty said the first thing that came to his mind: “Two for $25.”
The next week, Hearty said, that same woman came by with a sign she made for them advertising the photos and the price.
Witherspoon added the Grinch costume to the repertoire. Along with a third colleague dressed as Santa, they set up at 95th and Wood streets, outside the now-closed antique shop Beverly Hills Marketplace.
As a team of two, both with full-time jobs, their Grinching schedule depends on their work schedules and is liable to change during the holiday season, but it’s a pretty good bet you’ll find them out most nights starting at 5 p.m.
‘My Way Of Bringing Community Together’
For Witherspoon, it’s a calling. He loves every part of it — from setting up to getting into his role as the Grinch to seeing the joy on the faces of the kids he takes photos with — and it shows.
As Witherspoon set up last week, he took pains to get everything just right, shifting the sandbags on a fake Christmas tree several times so the tree was angled perfectly and going wild with the fake snow spray.
When he opened up a box of colorful light-up LED sticks, he called out to Hearty, “Look what I got! For the kids!”
When it came time to perform, it was clear where Witherspoon’s heart lies.
“Time stops when I’m doing this,” he said. “Performing is not work for me. It’s enjoyable. I don’t get tired. I don’t get cold. I want to outdo myself each time. Each time, I want to make people laugh. Each time I want more hugs. That’s my way of bringing community together. … This is my way of contributing.”
Witherspoon has been in love with acting since he first played the Scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz in second grade. When he was 12, he stumbled onto a set at 64th and Cottage Grove, where Paul Newman and Tom Cruise were shooting a scene from the 1986 film “The Color of Money.”
He watched the scene as they performed, and when a technician yelled “Cut!” and the actors walked by, they stopped to shake his hand.
“They gave me time enough to shake my hand,” Witherspoon said. “And I was faded. From right then, I wanted to be a performer.”
When Witherspoon sees kids light up at the sight of him in costume performing as one of these characters, it gives him a rush, he said.
“It’s a feeling that I can’t explain, that feeling is probably how Paul Newman and Tom Cruise felt when they met me,” he said. “I get a thrill. It’s an adrenaline rush when the crowd comes, and it makes me perform better.”
For The Love Of Beverly
With Hearty’s mobile studio and Witherspoon’s wardrobe of costumes, the team could set up shop anywhere, at any time of year.
So, why the Grinch and why Beverly?
For Hearty, it all comes down to the heart. When he was 6, he was hospitalized with Kawasaki disease, which causes inflammation of the arteries of his heart. That experience stayed with him and has influenced much of his heart-themed work as a podcaster and hip-hop artist — or “heartist” as he calls himself — and his views of how the heart affects people’s emotions and well-being.
The Grinch’s small heart that grows as it fills with joy and love in the classic Dr. Seuss tale reminds Hearty of his own experience as a child.
“When I was in the hospital, the situation with the doctors saying, ‘We don’t know what to do,’ that was the Grinch to me,” he said. But when the doctors realized young Hearty had a passion for basketball and brought a ball to the hospital for him, “I came back to life,” he said.
Witherspoon, on the other hand, first nabbed a Grinch costume during the pandemic.
“Everything was shut down, but my creativity didn’t shut down,” he said. “I found a way to connect with people during this pandemic.”
Beverly is special to both Hearty and Witherspoon.
It’s where Hearty grew up, the youngest of five. When his father, born and raised in Englewood, was courting Hearty’s mother, he knew he’d need to impress her family to earn their blessing. He brought them to Beverly to show them the unique architecture and large plots, and this is where they raised their family.
For Witherspoon, Beverly represents the future. The Chatham resident said he hopes to buy a home in the neighborhood soon.
The two of them even have a Beverly-themed call-and-response.
“Beverly is the place …,” Hearty shouted to Witherspoon as he carried a bundle of fake snow to the set.
“Where dreams come true!” Witherspoon answered with a smile.
Witherspoon can be reached for gigs at cspoon7777@gmail.com. Hearty can be reached on Instagram @hiphop_heartistry_323.
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