As Christmas closes in, area stages are serving up holiday fare to help get in the mood. Uptown Players closes the year with its new season opener and Lyric Stage does the same. These two shows give some different holiday vibes with one classic story reimagined as totally gay and the other giving some sassy comedy next to its charming musical numbers.
Uptown Players’ A Queer Carol is a dramatic retelling of a classic holiday tale
Last weekend was the opening weekend for A Queer Carol by Uptown Players which closes this weekend. A reimagining of the Charles Dickens classic, Joe Godfrey’s play puts a rainbow sheen over the holiday story. A drag queen, gay Scrooge and a whole new relationship between Bob Cratchit and Tim minus the “tiny.”
In this play, Ben Scrooge is a famed interior designer in Dallas with Bob as his assistant. The two are working late into the day before Christmas on a Margot Perot job. Ben is a taskmaster with no appreciation for the holiday while Bob is much more cheerful and ready to get home to his partner Tim who is in good spirits despite his illness.
The play follows the Christmas Carol structure so we see Ben being a jerk to Bob, to fabric supplier Fred and to his houselady Svetlana as well as Nick, the man who visits asking for donations. He’s visited by his past business and life partner Jacob Marley to warn of three ghosts coming in the night. Christmas Past is Marilyn Monroe and Christmas Present is a fabulous truth-talking drag queen all presenting Scrooge with his life’s traumas and dramas.
Of these, the past hits the hardest as it looks at Scrooge’s childhood and his alcoholic father’s rejection of his “sensitive” son. But then it looks at Scrooge’s meet-cute with Jacob which then grew into a full-fledged relationship despite Scrooge’s closeted ways.
Although this is A Queer Carol, the show relied very much on the drama of Dickens’ story over any sort of campy take on the piece. The fun side of that though was the playwright’s allowance to let the director and cast interject Dallas-specific tidbits. Nods to Oak Lawn, Oak Cliff and more brought the show home a bit more.
Patrick Bynane gave a distinct presence as Scrooge, without resorting to any cliches we’ve seen of that character. Quintin Jones Jr. was delightful as Bob Cratchit with solid nice guy energy who never let Scrooge get him down. As Tim, Matt Holmes matched Jones’ energy and the two’s chemistry as a modest couple was heartwarming to see.
Holmes also played young Scrooge where we see his origin story come to light. Holmes played this with more serious flair which was paralleled with Bynane’s portrayal. Holmes’ chemistry with Kevin Moore as Jacob Marley also felt genuine despite its toxicity. The two merged well as opposite sides of the same coin.
Marilyn Monroe as the ghost of Christmas Past seemed inexplicable but Stephanie Felton delivered a spot-on rendition of the movie icon. Isaiah Chistopher-Lord Harris served up some divine drag as the ghost of Christmas Present dragging Scrooge along his reluctant ride.
The show’s most dramatic scene was a gut wrenching family moment with Max Rudelman as Boy Scrooge expressing his artistic talents and fey personality with pride. The rejection by his father played fiercely by Ryan Michael Friedman felt almost too real as well as his Mom’s defense played lovingly by Julia Rose Hartman who brought that same energy to Svetlana.
Doug Fowler had the showiest of roles as Fred, Fezziwig and Pytor. He brought the camp element to the drama onstage in many fabulous facets.
The show was directed by BJ Cleveland who moved the show along at a comfortable pace to allow for all the exposition but never linger too long. That being said, when Scrooge had his revelation, it seemed a bit sudden without any contemplation or embrace of his newfound goodness. But Cleveland moved along to the lovely and satisfying happy ending for A Queer Carol that may just wrench a tear or two out of some audience members.
The show closes Sunday at the Kalita Humphreys Theater.
The impressive talent in Lyric’s Plaid Tidings comes with a big heart
In this special holiday edition of Forever Plaid, Lyric Stage’s Plaid Tidings mixed some dark humor with some well-delivered holiday music and ultimately the cabaret-style show at the Lyric Stage Studios was a heartfelt and joyous experience of feel-good holiday vibes. Four dead singers come back to life to sing Christmas music? But with this talented cast of singers who were funny and charming, Plaid Tidings served up some jolly goodness.
Mary Gilbreath Grim directed a production that was relentlessly endearing. The quartet of singers included Ben Meaders, Daniel Hernandez, Anthony Ortega and Shane Duckett all serving up impressive vocals and hella good comic timing. The show mixed enough narrative with musical numbers to be more than just a revue, but a compelling story that came with good tidings.
The four appear onstage post-car accident which killed the quartet in their real lives. Coming off a Perry Como Christmas special, the band realized that they have a second chance to perform their own Christmas show.
The quartet sounded beautiful and the melding of voices together created clear and rich harmonies. But the actors each created distinct characters. As Smudge, Meaders was the naive one where Daniel Hernandez was the sassy eccentric Sparky. Anthony Ortega was the serious group member Frankie where Shane Duckett was the quartet’s bro as Jinx. They all created such different characters but merged so well, it was almost hard to believe this wasn’t some 1950s quartet with their squabbles and camaraderie.
The show felt more like a ride than a story with lovely musical numbers and solos to follow with accompaniment by Hans Grim on piano and Gannon Philips on bass.The result was enchanting with the show’s unexpected mix of special effects, Christmas design and audience interaction and straight-up comedy. But the songs are the highlight here and these four knocked out each number with stunning vocals whether solo or together. But together, this Plaid Tidings cast was a dream.
The show runs through Dec. 22.
–Rich Lopez