This Way Outta Santaland at Theater Wit

Chicago Reader - Highly Recommended

"...Alongside musicians Meghan Murphy and Julie B. Nichols, the self-deprecating Fain ribs and reads the audience, pours drinks for his stage partners, and recounts memories from his own family, both nuclear and in spirit. At the center of the story is a deceptively profound and poetic capsule of the complicated, beautiful relationship actors have with their craft. A consummate showman, Fain interweaves prepared bits with freewheeling conversation and keeps any creeping mawkishness at bay with just the right cabaret number."

Stage and Cinema - Somewhat Recommended

"...With his crowd-pleasing mix of mischievous sassiness and a less patented disarming intensity, Fain relates his unpromising origins in densely populated Rhode Island. There his alcoholic, dysfunctional, atheistic, and financially-challenged Jewish family would toil in the jewelry factories. No love was lost between this middle child and his abusive dad and a mother too intimidated to make things right."

ChicagoCritic - Highly Recommended

"...After 8 seasons and 254 performances of The Santaland Diaries, Mitchell Fain has returned to Theater Wit with his own deeply personal holiday show, This Way Outta Santaland, complete with the fabulous singer Meghan Murphy and pianist Julie B. Nichols. This 90 minute one-act is a mix of storytelling. holiday boozy Christmas Carols, celerity holiday gossip and revealing stories of the private lives of the featured elf - Mitchell Fain."

Around The Town Chicago - Recommended

"..."This Way Outta Santaland (and other Xmas miracles)" is one of the most open and honest theatrical events I've ever attended. Mitchell Fain is well-known around Chicago for his eight-year gig as Crumpet, a grumpy Macy's elf in David Sedaris's hilarious story, "Santaland Diaries". After eight years in the pointy shoes, Fain was ready for something different; the result - an intimate evening of music and very personal soul-baring stories."