Gold, Hu Reinvent Classic Holiday Conflict in Around the Sun: Pinecones 

By Eleni Hagen

Family friction is a given around the holidays.  But it’s a very special–and very timely–kind of friction that arises when two people at different generational crossroads butt heads while attempting an Instagram-able good time… in skates. 

Such is the premise of Around the Sun: Pinecones, Episode 4. “Snow Bunnies,” is a mother-child two-hander from writer/creator Brad Forenza, brought to life by two-time Emmy winner Judy Gold and rising nonbinary star (and winner of the 2018 ABC Discovers: Digital Talent Competition) Terry Hu. The podcast is part of an episodic audio drama/anthology radio play series.

“To perform is to give of yourself,” muses Dr. François Clemmons, who lends his Grammy winning pipes to the season (including an original song about metamorphosis). “A performance can have deep meaning and symbolism when it matches the text, which is exactly what Brad’s writing empowers here.”

To substantiate Clemmons’ point, the “Snow Bunnies” episode offers a uniquely expressive, almost painfully personal take on critical issues that help shape our current social climate. One particularly pertinent example: The scene, which features a parent and her adolescent child struggling to find common ground amid the teen’s journey toward gender transition, is highly applicable to our national conversation around trans civil rights. 

Yet the episode is also universally recognizable outside of any social or “political” framework. At its heart, it’s a simple depiction of a typical family squabble, featuring just the right balance of humor and melodrama to make Frank Capra proud. 

“In ‘Snow Bunnies,’ we paint a picture that, I think, many are familiar with, regardless of their coming-of-age experiences,” Forenza says. “Simply put: It’s the story of a young person (as poignantly played by Hu) who’s trying to find themself amidst the parameters of their parent’s hopes and dreams for them. In this case, that well-intended parent (played with beautifully extraverted vulnerability by Gold) is simultaneously coming to terms with her own mid-life evolution.”

Around the Sun is an anthology series known for taking universal themes (love, death, change, community, the circle of life, etc.) and refracting them through a 21st-century lens. And Season 3’s Pinecones installment was designed to up the ante. With all this in mind, Forenza knew “Snow Bunnies” would need an exceptional cast, capable of lending both depth and breadth to the emotional proceedings.

Luckily, two distinct (and highly distinguished) voices were already ringing in his ears.  Multihyphenated talent Gold was the preferred “voice” of the exasperated and menopausal mother, Paula, long before the actor even signed on to the project. “I saw her brilliantly effective, one-woman show Yes, I Can Say That and thought, ‘I have to write this role with Gold’s voice in mind and hope that she’ll be available,’” Forenza recalls. “I absolutely believed that she would ‘get’ what I was trying to communicate and I certainly knew she could create a fully dimensional, engaging character using just the colors of her voice.”

The role is squarely in the writer-actor-comedian-podcaster’s wheelhouse, in part because Gold is a mother herself, but also because she’s famous for tackling material that doles out genuine belly laughs alongside insightful (and sometimes biting) commentary.   

Hu, who made history playing Disney’s first leading nonbinary character in 2022’s Z-O-M-B-I-E-S 3, was a natural choice for the role of Jay, an adolescent facing both specific and familiar struggles that include holiday stressors, teen angst, sudden loss, and an ever-so-slightly overbearing parent. It was Hu’s own experience as a nonbinary teen from a more traditional town, coupled with their authentic, accessible acting style that served as inspiration for their half of the “Snow Bunnies” script. 

Switching effortlessly from hilarious to heartbreakingly sincere, Gold and Hu deftly straddle the line between “serious subject matter” and poking fun at the absurdities of life (another hallmark of Around the Sun). An avid believer that all topics can be mined for comedic effect if done right, Gold slips into the funny/tragic/entirely universal world of ATS with ease. And together, she and Hu manage a performance that feels expertly calibrated to our contemporary landscape, yet completely relatable and utterly timeless.

The “Snow Bunnies” episode is available on Spotify.