Celebrate in a new way with New Rep’s ‘divas’

“I wanted to do something a little different,’’ said Kate Warner, artistic director of the New Repertory Theater, contemplating her options for the Watertown-based ensemble’s holiday production this season.

Productions of “The Nutcracker’’ and “A Christmas Carol’’ abound each December, so Warner decided to try something new. Why not four triple-threat divas singing, dancing, and spinning tales in a cabaret setting?

Selecting the talent for “New Rep’s Darling Divas Deck the Holidays,’’ which opens at 4 p.m. Saturday and runs through next Thursday, was the easy part, she said.

Start with Bobbie Steinbach from Newton, “a legend’’ in the Boston theater scene, Warner said.

Then bring in Aimee Doherty, a Bellingham High graduate whose star quality continues to rise. “She has such stage presence,’’ said Warner. “When her voice kicks in, it’s like flicking a switch. There’s such power behind it.’’

Kami Rushell Smith has taken quite a voyage to get to the New Rep and her diva role. She grew up in Elvis Presley’s hometown, Tupelo, Miss., before embarking for Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh and finally the Boston Conservatory.

“When I was in first grade,’’ said Smith, “I’d do Elvis impersonations at the dinner table.’’

What Warner likes about Connecticut native Michele A. DeLuca is “her moxie. She’s just got that passion. She can act, dance, and sing.’’

The New Rep’s show at the Arsenal Center for the Arts jazzes up holiday favorites, from “Let it Snow’’ and “Jingle Bells’’ to “The Eight Days of Hanukkah’’ and “Baby It’s Cold Outside,’’ interwoven with readings from stories such as “The Gift of the Magi.’’

“Kate didn’t want to do the same old, same old,’’ said Steinbach, which is how she gets to tell a story titled “Hope in Hell.’’ But, Steinbach adds, “this is a wonderful show for families.’’

A grandmother who has been married for 45 years, Steinbach started out at Newton High School but graduated from Newton South, which opened for her senior year. She was a late bloomer theatrically.

“I didn’t start acting until I was 35. I was a bit of a folk singer in Paris, when I was in my 20s. I carried my guitar into the streets and played.’’

Then she got married, had two children, and began working with special-needs children. Eventually, she joined a Boston children’s theater group. “I was 35, and they cast me as a 10-year-old girl.’’

Once Smith channeled her inner Elvis to theater, “I did two or three plays every year. My two sisters were athletic. All I did was theater, and loved it.’’

Smith lives in Dorchester and has done Shakespeare locally. “I’ve really embraced the Boston theater community. It’s a great place to live and work.’’ When she saw that New Rep was doing “Dessa Rose,’’ she auditioned and was cast. “I was the new kid in town.’’ And off and running, “making a living at what I love.’’

Doherty acted in high school before finding work in community theater, where she also found her future husband, in a production of “Secret Garden.’’

At University of Massachusetts Amherst, Doherty majored in environmental science with a minor in chemistry, something you don’t find on too many actors’ resumes. She graduated in 1996 and worked two years at a Marlborough company.

She was laid off last year. “It was a blessing in disguise. Now I can audition for anything at any time.’’ By day, she’s a consultant for environmental companies.

DeLuca had to leave the local scene to find out that Boston was the place for her after all. The Connecticut native graduated from Emerson College in 2003 and headed for New York City. After about a year and a half of cattle calls, “getting up at six in the morning and standing in long lines with people auditioning for the same part as you,’’ she’d had enough.

She returned to Boston “where I could work in theater almost all the time.’’

When did the theater “bug’’ get to DeLuca? “I can trace it back to when I was two or three. I’ve always been theatrical. My father would get out a video camera, and my brother Michael and I would do whatever we could to get his attention. We were always singing and dancing. The family would sit on the couch and suffer through it.’’

She’s played prominent roles at New Rep and the Lyric Stage Company. But for now, DeLuca knows what she is. “I’m a diva, at least for the month of December.’’

Steinbach’s wealth of experience has served her well. She has done cabaret shows in Boston and New York, and graced the boards at Lyric Stage Company, the Huntington, Charles Playhouse, and SpeakEasy Stage. She’s in her seventh season with the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company.

And the craft has never tired her out. “I’m getting old, although I look fabulous,’’ she said.

Smith is on the other end of the age spectrum. The youngest of the New Rep divas, her career is just kicking in. “I’m just following my career wherever it takes me.’’ She appeared in “Hairspray’’ at Waltham’s Reagle Music Theatre, and has been cast in an upcoming New Rep production.

And what could be cooler than “New Rep’s Darling Divas Deck the Holidays?’’ As Smith put it, “four women on stage dressed up and glitzed out. I’m getting a lot of experience for a girl from small town Mississippi.’’

Whatever the future holds, Smith is certain of one thing. She’s not in Tupelo anymore.

“New Rep’s Darling Divas Deck the Holidays’’ is being performed Saturday through next Thursday at the Arsenal Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal St., Watertown. Ticket are $30, or $25 for members. For details, go to www.newrep.org or call 617-923-8487. Lenny Megliola can be reached at lennymegs@aol.com.