Farmers Alley Theatre’s production of A Very Kalamazoo Christmas continues through December 21st. WMUK’s Gordon Bolar has this review.
Just before Christmas, a young, successful, unmarried woman with a corporate job in the city returns to her small hometown to rediscover love and the simple holiday joys she left behind.
If this familiar plot reminds you of a Hallmark episode you’re not alone. It’s also the plot of A Very Kalamazoo Christmas, a wildly funny Farmers Alley production sending up the formulaic storylines and characters populating the perennial seasonal TV movies.
Given the predictability of what might otherwise come off as a sticky, saccharine holiday candy cane, Director Kevin Theis wisely employs an appropriately over-the-top style that, to some, will be reminiscent of The Carol Burnett Show.
This includes asides by actors to one another and the audience, melodramatic mugs, exaggerated emotions, stone-faced reactions, cartoon-like props, and physical schtick, all of which remind us we are not watching reality, but rather a parody of a genre that we can both laugh at and love.
The sparkle in this brightly decorated Christmas offering is provided by four multi-talented performers playing more than a dozen roles between them.
Kait Auburn, as Felice, the eager, single woman dutifully married to her work is introduced with an enthusiastic Mary Tyler Moore-style hat toss. Fast forward to three years later, and Auburn’s slovenly slump at her office keyboard clearly indicates that there is something amiss with Felice’s climb up the corporate ladder.
Auburn is a gifted comedienne and generates laughter with accidental head bumps during kiss scenes with an ill-suited suitor. She also carefully constructs a sympathetic lead character, torn between job and the pursuit of a well-matched love interest. This is important, for even comic-style lead characters must be grounded in humanity and believability.
Emma Brock, as Barb, Felice’s sassy girlfriend is always present with a supportive glass of wine and tired admonitions to “look at the bigger picture” in the world of romantic attachments. Likewise, while playing Felice’s schnapps-guzzling mother, Brock reprises Barb’s tired admonitions to, you guessed it, “look at the bigger picture” in the world of romantic attachments.
A challenge to director Theis’s zany style is sustainability. Those recalling “The Carol Burnett Show” might remember that the sketch comedy format was comprised of ten-minute scenes that gave little in the way of character growth. Theis’s talented cast, however, manages to sustain audience interest and enhance character trajectory throughout the ninety-minute show.
Important resources in the performer’s toolkit here are speed and repetition. A key weapon in Theis’s arsenal is the mercurial Joe Dempsey in several roles including Felice’s boyfriend Jack, her boss, Mr. Banks, and Danny, the beanie-capped 3rd grade son of Felice’s newly rekindled love interest, George.
As Banks, Dempsey accelerates the show’s pace to help knit the production together in the second half, as he repeatedly attempts to get George to sign away his family business. He presents a cavalcade of ink pens which are unceremoniously thrown away as George vacillates on signing the sinister document before him.
Due to numerous, over assigned, rapid-fire character changes, Dempsey frequently enters out of breath, and securing a costume. His prolific exits as Banks are so quick that he hardly has time to work on a proper nefarious laugh, until he finally nails it with a Simon Legree-like cackle.
Other hilarious running gags include Danny’s tearful, never-ending references to his dead mother, dramatic over-reactions to something called “the accident,” and the expanding resume of handyman George, portrayed in a thankfully more normative role by Steve Peebles.
Other cohesive elements of this production are the familiar references to Kalamazoo and area, such as the decorations in Bronson Park, the Maple Hill Holiday Parade and its curious downtown location, and the repeated mentions of the nearby “Big City of Battle Creek.”
This onstage seasonal celebration will surely be remembered the next time those attending “A Very Kalamazoo Christmas” tune to, or away from, the Hallmark Channel.