If you’ve finished your Christmas shopping and have all the gifts wrapped, there are several theater options available this weekend.
First and foremost is Cincinnati Shakespeare’s 12th annual presentation of Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some) that opened last evening and will be presented through Dec. 31. It’s 90 minutes of satiric holiday cheer, taking any aim at most every Christmas legend and character you can think of — and then some: Rudolph, The Grinch, Charlie Brown, Frosty the Snowman, Ebenezer Scrooge and Jacob Marley (“who was dead to begin with”), George Bailey and Clarence the Angel.
Maggie Lou Rader is new to the tomfoolery this year as the persistent Christmas Carol partisan who can’t keep her jokester castmates under control. Veterans Justin McCombs, as an uninhibited man-child, and Billy Chace, as a bombastic, martini-swilling know-it-all, maintain the chaotic hilarity on high boil with Miranda McGee interjecting her Australian twist to a soused Santa making wry remarks from a sleigh at stage left. She has plenty of chances to get up close and personal with audience members in Cincy Shakes’ new Over-the-Rhine theater. Much of the zany fun derives from the annual update of humorous targets: The Cincinnati Zoo’s charismatic hippo Fiona makes an appearance, as does a funny take on the Blink light festival — plus some timely pokes at the likes of Harvey Weinstein and Jeff Sessions.
Tickets are going fast: performances this weekend (tonight at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday at 2 and 7:30 p.m.) are sold out, but standing room has been added. No shows on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day or Dec. 26, but things pick up again next Wednesday. Best ticket availability is New Year’s Eve at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Stick around after 7:30 performance on New Year’s Eve for a champagne toast with the cast. Tickets ($38): cincyshakes.com.
It might be the perfect time to see A Christmas Carol at the Playhouse, just before Christmas Eve when the three ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet-to-Come teach Ebenezer Scrooge the lessons of love and forgiveness. Performances are set for today and Saturday at 2 and 7 p.m. (No performances on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, but then daily at 7 p.m. until closing on Dec. 30.) Tickets: cincyplay.com. … Ensemble Theatre’s annual holiday fairytale musical — this year it’s The Dancing Princesses — continues through Dec. 30. (No performances on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.) If available, you might score half-price rush tickets and $15 student tickets for all performances two hours prior to show time, by phone (513-421-3555) or in person at the box office. … Covedale Center’s production of Annie, the heartwarming story of an orphan seeking her parents at Christmastime in the 1930s, has its final performances this weekend tonight at 8 p.m. and Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m. Tickets: cincinnatilandmarkproductions.com.
Next week OTR Improv’s “traditionally twisted holiday tradition,” aka The Naughty List, has three more offerings, right after Christmas — in the courtyard at Arnold’s Bar & Grill (210 E. 8th Street, Downtown) — next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Lots of laughs and audience participation are in store. Tickets: otrimprov.com.
Rick Pender’s STAGE DOOR blog appears here every Friday. Find more theater reviews and feature stories here.
This article appears in Dec 20-27, 2017.
