Many small theater shows promise to be edgy, dirty, sexy or saucy and come up short. The warning on the Playhouse on Park website regarding “Mama D’s Christmas Stocking” — “We’re rude, we’re crude and we’re partially nude” — is a refreshing dose of truth in advertising.
The nudity is of the dancing-in-lingerie variety. (Both men and women wear the flimsy garments.) The crudity is largely due to nearly every routine in this perverse variety show having something to do with sex. The rudeness refers to the antics of Santa Claus, Jesus Christ and Moses, who wander through this perverse party landscape making outrageous, obvious sexual puns or just flat-out swearing. There’s an amusing duet when Santa and Christ sing classic songs about themselves, swapping in first-person pronouns. Naturally, there’s also a Santa/Moses rap battle. Oh, and you’ll never look at an Elf on the Shelf the same way again.
This purported defiance of accepted cultural (and theatrical) norms can be overstated at times. A host tells us we are in for “a raunchy, foul-mouthed racy show,” after a couple of songs and dances have already made that point handily. Then someone else says “We’re going to go out of our way to offend you tonight.” OK, got it. What had been a winking promise now seems like a challenge, and you might find yourself crossing your arms and taking a “Prove it!” position instead of just luxuriating in the filth as intended.
“Mama D’s Christmas Stocking” has the feel and structure of a risque burlesque show of yore, the kind that was a staple at small theaters in major cities throughout the 1940s and ’50s. Comedy acts alternate with erotic dance routines and live music numbers. There’s a five-piece live band that’s very much in the loose jazz-club spirit, with raunchy saxophone licks and piano boogies. There’s a showstopping tap dance routine, and even some juggling. (I’d tell you what’s being juggled, but this is a family newspaper.)
What’s different from old-school burlesque is that “Mama D’s,” despite a Betty Boop “I Want to Be Loved By You” number and the suggestive blues song “Hot Dog Man,” doesn’t care all that much about nostalgia. Baggy pants and suspenders are not the comedians’ costume of choice, and (with a single exception that’s played for laughs) there are no striptease acts. Inspiration for the musical numbers is drawn from “SNL” skits and pop/R&B standards. The comedy is of the contemporary scatological variety, and the dancing is carefully choreographed full-ensemble salaciousness, as you might expect in a world which knows who Bob Fosse was.
Is the comedy offensive? Well, yes, but Lenny Bruce and Redd Foxx were doing stronger stuff 60 years ago. Is the dancing sexy? Sure, and since the dancers don’t conform to any single idealized body type, there’s a sense of liberation and inclusiveness that seems even sexier.
Several of the performers in “Mama D’s Christmas Stocking” are familiar from Playhouse on Park’s impressive production of “A Chorus Line” this past summer.
Sensing a great show structure when it sees it, yet not hampered by a need to re-create history (as famed burlesque tributes like “Sugar Babies” felt obliged to do), “Mama D’s Christmas Stocking” creates a dark sinuous netherworld all its own. The audience goes right along. This is a BYOB event, so folks are drinking in their seats and casually wandering back and forth to the lobby during this intermissionless 100 minutes of loose-limbed, looser-morals entertainment.
Merry Xmas!
“MAMA D’S CHRISTMAS STOCKING,” conceived and choreographed by Darlene Zoller, with next performances scheduled Dec. 28-31 at Playhouse on Park, 244 Park Road, West Hartford. Performances are Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and Friday at 8 p.m. BYOB. The Dec. 31 performance is a special New Year’s Eve show for ages 21 and over that includes a cocktail party from 8 to 9:30 p.m., a performance of the show at 9:30 p.m. and dancing and refreshments until 1 a.m. Tickets are $25 and $60 for the New Year’s Eve show; 860-523-5900, playhouseonpark.org.
