Crumpet the sarcastic elf is dusting off his fairy suit and downing his first of one too many martinis to screw up his courage for his sixth annual outing in The Santaland Diaries, Theater Wit's smash hit holiday comedy, opening Friday, November 27, 2008 at 7:30 pm, running through January 2, 2010 at Theatre Building Chicago, 1225 W. Belmont Avenue.
Based on the true, hilarious story by award winning humorist David Sedaris, and adapted for the stage by Joe Mantello, The Santaland Diaries is the ideal holiday tradition for people who don't believe in holiday traditions. Theater Wit's Chicago 2009 production of The Santaland Diaries features the return of Mitchell Fain, and is directed again by Theater Wit Artistic Director Jeremy Wechsler.
Most people in America experience the holidays with a flurry of activity, surrounded by Christmas presents and a loving family watching It's A Wonderful Life. An annual alt-Christmas favorite, The Santaland Diaries is the more unconventional, but always hilarious story of David, a struggling young writer who takes a job as an elf at Macy's and struggles to maintain his dignity. As Christmas Day draws nearer, David grows increasingly weary and bitter as he is forced to deal with the humiliations of elf training, obnoxious customers, and badly cast Santas. Will our hero find the Christmas spirit before it is too late? Probably not.
More about The Santaland Diaries
David Sedaris (author) is one of America's pre-eminent humorists and writers. Time Magazine named him Humorist of the Year in 2001, and Publisher's Weekly once called him "a caustic mix of J.D. Salinger and John Waters." He originally presented The Santaland Diaries in 1992 on National Public Radio's Morning Edition as a commentary on the collision of Christmas and commerce. Subsequently published in the collection of short stories, Holiday On Ice, the book reached the top of the New York Times best seller list in 1997. Other popular works by Sedaris include Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Naked Life in New York, and April in Paris.
Mitchell Fain (Elf) is happy to be back in stripey tights for his third year as Crumpet. He was most recently seen at The Actors Theatre of Louisville in Lookingglass Theater's production of Lookingglass Alice and also on The NCL Spirit as part of a Second City touring company performing improv/sketch comedy. Other credits include Stilettos, Circus and Soul: The Musical, Hamlet: The Musical, Henry VI, Hamlet, Comedy of Errors, A Midsummer Night's Dream, As Bees in Honey Drown, Bitches, Hayfever, The Mystery of Edwin Drood and The Lynching of Leo Frank. Television credits include What About Joan?, Early Edition and most recently The Beast on A & E. Fain is an Artistic Associate of Chicago's The Midnight Circus and a co- host of The Windy City Queercast. He received his degree in English at the University of Rhode Island.
Jeremy Wechsler (director) is the artistic director of Theater Wit where he has directed Feydeau-Si-Deau (Georges Feydeau), Men of Steel (Qui Nguyen), Thom Pain (Based on Nothing) (Will Eno), Two for the Show (James Fitzpatrick and Will Clinger) and The Santaland Diaries (David Sedaris and Joe Mantello). He has directed over 40 shows in the last 15 years at various theatres, including: A Taste of Honey (Shelagh Delaney), The Play About the Squirrel (Mia McCullough), The White Devil (John Webster), The Real Thing (Tom Stoppard), Szinhaz (Itamar Moses), The Duchess of Malfi (John Webster), Titus Andronicus (Shakespeare), The Roaring Girl (Thomas Middleton), Flight (Mikhail Bulgakov), The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told (Paul Rudnick), This is the Rill Speaking (Lanford Wilson), Hay Fever (Noel Coward) Now Then Again (Penny Penniston), A Month in the Country (Brian Friel), Europe (David Grieg), Henry VI: Blood of a Nation (Shakespeare), The Promise (Jose Rivera), Un Robot (Laura Jacqmin), The Coarse Acting Show (Michael Green) Life is a Dream (Calderon), The Prisoner's Dilemma (David Edgar), Cabaret (Kander/Ebb) and The Threepenny Opera (Brecht). Wechsler's productions have been nominated for and won multiple awards for design, performance, adaptation and best new work. He has taught at several universities, is an artistic associate at Collaboraction and currently serves on the board of the League of Chicago Theatres.
Designers for The Santaland Diaries are Joey Wade, set; Mara Blumenfeld, costumes; and Joe Fosco, sound. Dana Nestrick is production stage manager.
About Theater Wit
Theater Wit is dedicated to exploring contemporary issues with wit and wisdom through new works and Chicago premieres. The company is proud to announce the opening of its new theater complex at 1229 W. Belmont Avenue, the former home of Bailiwick Repertory. Currently undergoing a $1.2M renovation, Theater Wit's new home is scheduled to re-open in Spring, 2010, and will boast three performance spaces, a wine bar, office space and a really cool public space. The inaugural production in the new Theater Wit will be the world premiere of Penny Penniston's new comedy, Spin.
"I want this to combine the very best of the neighborhood theaters I love," said artistic director Jeremy Wechsler. "We've invited three of Chicago's best companies to share the new building with us: Shattered Globe, Stage Left and Bohemian Theatre Ensemble will be resident companies for the 2010-2011 season." Partnering with Theater Wit, they bring a wide range of diversified and accomplished arts programming into the new space. "We're going to really reach out to everyone and make this a true public space for the community," added Wechsler.
Tickets are only $24 and can be purcahsed at Ticketmaster.com.