Have the holidays left you feeling more dazed than jolly, despite all the Christmas songs wishing you a “holly, jolly Christmas”? The Footlights Theatre’s “Holidazed” is just the thing to put the “ho, ho, ho” back in the holidays.
The 75-minute show stars Footlight’s executive artistic director, Michael J. Tobin, and theater favorites Vin Brown and Gretchen G. Wood. They deliver four comic Christmas shorts, followed by “The Christmas Tree” by Canadian playwright Norm Foster.
Dressed in “ugly Christmas sweaters,” the three performers kick off the laughs with “Christmas Comments,” taking turns delivering Christmas-themed jokes and puns. Tears of laughter trickled down the audience’s faces Thursday night as Wood, Brown and Tobin delivered such holiday zingers as “A virgin birth I can believe, but three wise men?” and “When someone asks where is your Christmas spirit, is it wrong to point to the liquor cabinet?”
With patrons’ eyes still aglow with laughter, Tobin and Wood donned Mr. and Mrs. Claus outfits for “Mrs. Claus Gets Menopause.” Santa is preparing to make his Christmas Eve run when Greta Claus reveals that she has been to see Hermey the dentist’s brother Hymie, who’s training to be a gynecologist.
Hysterical chaos erupts as Mrs. Claus succumbs to a menopausal meltdown about rumors of Santa and one of his elves, being left alone Christmas Eve and the fact that she will never have children. The audience doubled over with laughter as Wood exclaimed to Tobin’s dumbfounded Santa, “Is it my fault we haven’t done the Christmas Kringle in almost 20 years?”
The last two shorts feature Brown as Jingle the elf in “Inspector Jingle” and Tobin modernizing a Christmas classic in a reading of ” ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas … The Facebook Edition.” Brown, who towers above his “Holidazed” cast members, is a riot as a caustic elf, dishing out North Pole rules and advice such as, “If you see a disorientated snowman who says ‘Happy birthday,’ ignore him. He’s harmless.”
” ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas … The Facebook Edition” offers an amusing take on Facebook trends, with Tobin exclaiming at the end, “Merry Christmas to all. I bet 99 percent of you won’t repost.”
The laugh-saturated evening concludes with Foster’s 45-minute scene, “The Christmas Tree,” about two strangers who meet at a Christmas tree lot on Christmas Eve. Tobin and Wood are a delight as their characters attempt to one-up each other with contrived sap stories as to why they need the last Christmas tree.
Footlights’ “Holidazed” is an entertaining remedy for holiday stress, offering an evening of nonstop laughs. And with a “pay what you can” ticket price, it’s a real holiday treat.
April Boyle is a freelance writer who lives in Casco. She can be contacted at:
aprilhboyle@yahoo.com
Twitter: ahboyle
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