They re back! The cast of California Cabaret Theatre takes "Every Christmas Story Ever Told" and tells them in new and hilarious ways. There are only three people on stage, with piano accompaniment, but in saying "Let s get ready to jingle!
" they set out to mix and mangle seasonal icons in a way that gives new meaning to "merry" Christmas.
Although the style is off-the-wall satire, the well-meaning warmth of the season shines through with a few songs and carols.
The players are Jay Campbell, Barb Mercado and Erik Stein, a trio of comics who can act, dance and sing.
Each has a comic style that complements the others.
The show is all about the BHCs (beloved holiday classics). Stein starts it off with an introduction to "A Christmas Carol," by "Chuck Dickens," but his cohorts convince him that the classic is old hat, and he should update, so he becomes a funny version of the Grinch, and they sing and dance, segueing into "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
"
However, because of copyright laws or some such, Campbell becomes Gustav, the green-nosed goat. He has a conversation with an elf who wants to be a dentist, and meets a series of misfit toys, such as Charlie-in-the-box and a Pee Wee Herman pull toy well, you get the picture.
The strange juxtapositions continue with "You re Having My Baby," by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and "A Very Brady
Kwanzaa.
" The cast dons tutus for "The Nutcracker." It s much funnier on stage than on paper because the actors comic talents, each with a different style of body language, are what make it work.
Stein s face can morph from Scrooge to Grinch to Jimmy Stewart in a moment, and his tall, expressive body goes from macarena to ballerina with the flexibility of Gumby.
Yet the pleasant surprise for many in the audience was his fine, serious rendition of "Oh, Holy Night," in an elegant voice.
Campbell is funny in his own way, especially as a melting Frosty the Snowman, then a kid wanting to know if Santa is real, and as a runaway balloon in the Macy s Thanksgiving parade. He s a kick as a guy who s not the brightest bulb on the tree, wanting to do "A Child s Christmas with Whales, by Bob Dylan.
" When he s informed that it s
Dylan Thomas and "A Child s Christmas in Wales," he s amazed that there s a whole country in England filled with whales.
Mercado is cute and funny as she changes wigs and genders to be Cindy Lou Who in the Grinch sequence. She hosts the "Fruit, Nut and Dating Game" and plays an array of other supporting characters.
The program finally gets back to "A Christmas Carol," but Stein as Scrooge keeps getting interrupted by Campbell, who s doing "It s a Wonderful Life," and Scrooge and George Bailey finally become a hybrid character, Ebenezer Bailey, in a clever skit that points out the similarities in the two BHCs.
All of this nonsense was written by Michael Carleton, Jim
Fitzgerald and John Alvarez, and it must have been fun. The music is by Will Knapp.
George Walker is director, and Mark Robertshaw is pianist and music director.
The show is performed in a large wedding tent at the Avila Beach Golf Resort. Cheese, fruit and coffee, with desserts at intermission, are included.
Wine is available from the restaurant next door. There are heaters, and blankets if needed, but dress warmly. By the end of the show, you ll likely be warmed up from laughing.
7:30 p.m.
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