It's a Wonderful Santa Land Miracle...Playwright: Street Tempo ensemble et al. At: Street Tempo Theatre at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Tickets: 773-327-5252; www.stage773.com; $28. Runs through: Dec. 30
Gift of the Magi. Playwright: book by Mark St. Germain, music by Randy Courts, lyrics by Randy Courts and Mark St. Germain. At: Porchlight Theatre at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave. Tickets: 773-327-5252; www.stage773.com; $39. Runs Through: Dec. 23
Audiences for Street Tempo's holiday show may expect to be fed cookies and eggnog, garlanded with flowered leis (during the Hawaiian "Mele Kalikimaka" number), and inundated with showers of fake snow, cascades of bubbles from a jar and clouds of flour (during the "Cooking With Elves" number). Don't let the playful tone fool youBrian Posen's hard-working squad of smart young comics have set as their ambitious goal an "all-inclusive" holiday celebration, insofar as such a thing is possible.
The 85-minute (with intermission) evening's slate delivers a few of the expected laughsthe "Cooking With Elves" sketch parodies popular chefs, a New Year's Eve party grows increasingly raucousbut a "who's on first" patter segues into a charity appeal for the orphaned pronouns providing the vaudeville turn's humor, while another PSA reveals the shockingly inhumane source of those Jean Shepherd-inspired light fixtures. We also glimpse airports following canceled flights, shelters following home evictions, and toy shops where a lonely doll-maker dances a wistful pas de deux with his creations.
The season's villainse.g. Grinch, Scrooge, Luciferget their moment in the spotlight, as do the other seasonal festivals, and a gospel chorus "welcomes to the table" diners observing dietary restrictions. Indeed, even the year's other revels get their say, protesting the lack of Thanksgiving carols or Halloween feasts. Every premise, no matter how grim, ends on an upbeat note, however. In this show, when they say, "bless us, EVERY one," they mean it.
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In The Gift of the Magi, one scene depicts a flimsy evergreen branch festooned with kitchen utensils to simulate a decorated tree. Randy Courts and Mark St. Germain's Sondheim-esque songs also weigh heavily on a lightweight book adapted from two stories by O. Henry, but Kevin McKillip lends a touch of Shakespearean grandeur to his portrayal of a vagrant whose winter plans include a warm jail cell, while Jason Richards and Chelsea Morgan make a suitably sweet pair of lovers, ably assisted by Nate Lewellyn, Gerald Richardson and Heather Townsend delivering muscular performances conjuring an urban fin-de-siècle milieu steeped in romance for this Porchlight Theatre production.