A Very Die Hard Christmas (review)

Spoilers ahoy!

If you decide to go see Theatre Unleashed's latest production of A Very Die Hard Christmas (which for the record I think you should) then allow me to offer one vital piece of advice.

Go watch the original Die Hard movie first. I haven't seen the flick in years and for that reason ended up playing "catch up." This lovely, silly show which aims to simply bring a load of smiles and laughs takes the fact that movie was set at Christmas time then runs with it.  Yeah, it qualifies as a spoof of the flick, with all kinds of meta commentary (one character openly notes she doesn't make good decisions while another admits she probably shouldn't be working for the police department).  All well and good.  But the uber zaniness rises when they start to sew in bits from classic Christmas specials...

For example (HEY! I WARNED YOU ABOUT SPOILERS!!!!) when the Terrorists led by Hans Gruber arrive at the corporation's Christmas Party (held btw on Christmas Eve--who does that?) they line up to do a rendition of "Snow Miser" from The Year Without a Santa Claus. ("He's Hans Gruber/He's now in charge/He's supposed to be West German/But is English by and large...")

Other songs include "What's This" from A Nightmare Before Christmas and "Where Are You Christmas?" from The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.

And that really is the least of it. What with audience participation, a liberal use of confetti, taking the notion of firearms as somehow important to Christmas and (again) the whole meta thing (someone actually asks Hans Gruber "What's Hermione really like?") it is like a big funny roller coaster of laughs. Me, I loves me some angst. But also, I really enjoy this kind of over-the-top farce that just makes you giggle.

The leads are Wade Wilson as eternally gun-toting John McClane, David Foy Bauer as best-dressed terrorist Hans Gruber and Liesl Jackson as John's wife Holly who is having what one hopes is the worst hair day of her life. All three show talent and spark, but to be honest the supporting cast generally steal show--all of them playing multiple roles.  For example there is Margaret Glaccum as a pregnant office worker with very inappropriate feelsings for the tall blonde terrorists holding her at gunpoint. And Bradley Upton, Adam Meredith as well as Sean Fitzgerald pretty much making up the rest of the cast in a wild frenzy of costume and wig changes (one of them has to change character three times in a single scene, and looks increasingly frantic as he keeps switching back and forth).

A Very Die Hard Christmas plays Thursdays through Saturdays at 8pm through December 19, 2015 at the Belfry Stage 11031 Camarillo St., North Hollywood, CA 91602. Tickets are $20 and reservations can be made by calling (818) 849-4039 or emailing reservations@theatreunleashed.org

*Please note this musical parody production features loud gunshot sound effects, the use of confetti and air cannons, fake blood, profanity, violence, and jazz hands. Welcome to to the party, pal.

The Jew That Saved Christmas (review)

Spoilers ahoy!

Let me make one thing utterly, absolutely clear beyond all doubt. The Jew That Saved Christmas is fun. Lots of fun. As in laugh out loud lots of times fun, not least from the irreverent humor that never turns nasty or mean.

My friend Andy Shultz wrote this one act comedy, the third of his plays I've gotten to see at ZJU, every one a kind of gem. Comedy generally proves much trickier than most folks presume, because it depends on getting a startling number of factors just right--not least timing and tone (frankly most comic plays I seem don't rise to this challenge).  As director of his own work, Shultz helps nail both.

Credit: Andy Shultz

The title character is played by Adam Neubauer, another playwright/director at ZJU, a deeply unhappy and unlucky young man named Larry who wants nothing more for Christmas that to eat Chinese food with his lesbian roommate (Kyle M. Collucci) and watch t.v.  Naturally things don't go as planned. Quite apart from his best friend (David Wyn Harris) moaning over his recent breakup and then lusting after our lead's mother (Deirdre Anderson), there's also the obnoxious neighbor (Carol Muniak)  who has a crush on Larry and won't take "Hell No!" for an answer.

Then, there are the Elves (Derrick Brooks, Jennifer Nwene, Brady Glasser). You read right. Elves. Seems an ancient prophecy insists Larry is the Jew That Will Save Christmas by defeating the evil demon Krampus. Does that make any sense? Well, as much as anything when you think about it. 

Credit: Andy Shultz

But here is where the play really works, just as a script. Fun, zany ideas aren't even a dime a dozen. More like a nickel at most. Execution lies the true test of any idea, and this one delivers! We know this because of the final clinching proof--the audience laughs. In a comedy, everything else takes second place, and yet remains nowhere near as easy as one might think. A genuinely funny play isn't just a string of jokes. Larry's personal nightmares keep growing as the story continues, but only after a specific tone of zany kvetching has been established. Then other details of plot, dialogue, character and even costume follow. By fitting together into a whole, we all get "let in" on this world and its skewy POV. Of course Larry's mother cannot imagine anyone good enough for her little boy--and of course that turns his love life into a train wreck, and always will even as she starts making out with Larry's friend, only to have Larry walk in on them. This is his world. Thank God it isn't yours. Now sit back and enjoy!

Credit: Adam Neubauer

Meanwhile the cast proves itself just splendid. Over-acting well is in fact not easy to pull off, neither are half the little bits and things done throughout--like "freezing" in place without losing any energy.

Despite the warning above, I don't want to spoil any potential audience members' joy by revealing too much. What instead I hope to do is whet your appetite. Anyone regularly reading my reviews has sussed onto the fact I love me some angst, some cranial fornication and some deep dark drama. BUT--I adore a show that is pure, unadulterated (and very slightly wicked) FUN.  That is what this show promises, and more importantly, delivers. Really, it would be a shame to miss this.

The Jew That Saved Christmas plays Sundays at 3pm through December 20, 2015 at Zombie Joe's Underground 4850 Lankershim Blvd (just south of the NoHo Sign), North Hollywood CA 91601. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at zombiejoes.tix.com.

Holiday Humor

May the season bring surprises of joy to you all...