By James V. Ruocco
In "Christmas on the Rocks," a playful, addictive, outrageous holiday confection of eight different stories wrapped merrily in shiny red, green and gold yuletide gift paper, audiences finally learn what actually happened to several different characters from their favorite Christmas stories, who, for plot purposes, are now grown up with neuroses, hang ups, obsessions and fetishes that have completely messed up their lives and those around them.
Tweaked, synced and programmed for laughs by seven different playwrights, "Christmas on the Rocks" is borderline crazy - then again, that's the point - with rapid-fire vitality, zing and snap that builds and builds and surprises all the way.
Forget Scrooge control.
That 19th century miser is nowhere to be found in the wracked minds of these writers.
Here, Hermey the gay elf takes a ride on Rudolph's big, shiny red nose.
ZuZu Bailey completely freaks out every time she hears a bell ringing - Jingle bells, doorbells, sleighbells, Bell's palsy, Patti LaBelle.
Ralphie uses pink bunny suits for erotic, sexual pleasures.
Karen, the little girl who brought that famous icy wonder to life is homicidal as hell.
Clara, that beautiful young girl from the 1892 Tchaikovsky ballet has not only lost her looks, but recently found out that her nutcracker prince is having homosexual liaisons with her brother Fritz.
Disillusioned Charlie Brown tells everyone that Snoopy No. 4 has died.
The Elf on the Shelf also figures prominently in the mix along with a stoned hippie and his set of drumsticks.
Detailed.
Consistent.
Jaw-dropping.
Exhilarating.
Cheerful.
This annual Christmas treat from TheaterWorks Hartford - replete with R-rated humor, refreshing, wackadoodle scenarios and cheeky one-liners celebrates the lives of these unfortunate victims - some traumatized for life - with a massive comic mindset and quick wit that is played, sprayed and splayed with a ripped-apart, takeaway abandon that never once falters for a second.
Rob Ruggiero, Artistic Director of TheaterWorks, helms yet another retelling of this zany, off-the-cuff Christmas storybook. As director, he works his magic with two new segments - "Snitch" and "Drumsticks and Chill" - a tweak, nip and tuck here and there and some new directorial strokes and strategies to get the juices flowing throughout this offbeat collection of twisted holiday tales.
Directorially, "Christmas on the Rocks" is staged with just the right amount of oomph, tilt and sway to keep the craziness front and center without ever once losing its sure-fire momentum, its acerbic center, its playful banter, its warped characterizations and yuletide push and pull.
Things are sparky. Things are fresh. Things are candy cane sticky. Things are very much in the moment. Things are giggly. Things are defined with nostalgic reverence.
With the accent on twisted fun, this riotously entertaining outing is afresh with surprises anew, charge forward rationalization, front-page roars and mirth and the kind of high-level slapstick pioneered in silent movies, 1930s screwball comedies, 1970's television variety shows and vaudevillian burlesque gigs from the 1920s. It's all diced and spliced with musical hall gaiety by Ruggiero who crafts a strong piece of theatre with that clearly relishes and exemplifies the fast-forward comic demands of a laugh-a-minute comedy using a distinct humorous voice to release the juvenile giggler within.
The casting of Ted Lange as the show's bartender gives "Christmas on the Rocks" a refreshing feel that pays homage to his popular shipboard character from "The Love Boat" with nods to the long-running Aaron Spelling ABC series that include recognizable Isaac character traits, references and shtick that comes full circle during the final moments of the production. The character, for plot purposes, is also named Isacc, who, get this - has a CV that names him head bartender on a cruise ship.
Here, as on "The Love Boat," Lange's Isacc is the real deal.
He's not just someone who pours drinks, smiles or listen casually to everyone who enters the bar and tells him their troubles.
As played by Lange, he's a compassionate, cynical and caring leader who steps out from behind-the-bar and offers the right kind of in-your-face honesty and emotion every bartender should have.
His line delivery is fresh and honest and perfectly in sync with the irreverent humor inherent in every one of "Christmas" stories. His comic timing is flawless. His interaction with both Jen Cody and Harry Bouvy is confident and well-orchestrated. He projects the warmth, vulnerability and persona at his character's core. He's also the play's driving force and guiding principle.
The wonderfully animated Harry Bouvy is completely at home with the type of off-the-wall humor and craziness prevalent in "Christmas on the Rocks" He knows how to play comedy inside out, backwards and forwards, upside down and front and center. He can get, build and shape a laugh unobtrusively. The fact that you never can tell what he is going to do next - he has lots of tricks and surprises up his sleeve - adds pleasurable depth, purpose and resonance to his performance. He also possesses his own sense of blatant naughtiness, which, when playing the very effeminate Hermey the Elf, prompts huge belly laughs from the audience at every comic turn.
They don't come any better and crazier than Jen Cody, a great ball of fire and gifted comedienne whose line delivery, comic expressions, body language and reactions are so incredibly conceived and orchestrated, you're never quite sure what's she's going to do next. Like Jenn Harris before her, she too puts her own personal stamp on the proceedings and cuts loose with one crazy character after another that's timed and primed to perfection with no chance of slowing down for a single second.
It's a knockout turn, performed with wild abandon, tangle-and-tumble glee, virtuoso gumby-like action and seize-the-moment thrill. Amazing, yes and so much more.
Wacky, irreverent, eccentric and a helluva lot of fun, "Christmas on the Rocks" - now celebrating its 10th Anniversary at TheaterWorks - is the perfect holiday treat to chase away the blues, get you all lathered up for Christmas and keep you laughing hysterically till it's time to ring in the New Year.
This is madcap theatre to the fullest.
It is wild and wacky. It is deliciously obscene.
It is refreshing and gob smack silly.
This year's cast - Ted Lange, Jen Cody, Harry Bouvy - a dream team of three - is a welcome shot of Christmas cheer laced with a few vodka shots, a sugar plum or two and a whole lot of tinsel and glitter.
Director Rob Ruggiero fuels the fire with flash-bang-wallop inspiration.
Never once does this eight-scene comedy miss a comic beat.
It's streamlined with giddyap and stamina in every sense of the world.
There isn't a Christmas show out there quite like it.
It's an absolute must on your "things to do list" this December.
It also transports you to a time and place like no other.
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