The air is cold and Chicago is on its second snow. With winter comes a holiday season with a full slate of festive theater. But, let’s face it: This year feels different. Despite the merriment of the season, societal issues — war, immigration, hunger — are all seeping into what makes it on stage.
All of this is to say: We need a laugh.
This is a perfect year for a Holiday season pick-me-up, and Chicago theaters offer plenty of festive comedies that will generate tears of joy, and, perhaps even side-splitting laughter.
One of the best places to start is with a franchise that has been in the pop culture ethos for decades. We’re all familiar with at least a few iterations of the “Real Housewives,” but this year a local theater company is putting a fresh and festive spin on the diva-dominated reality series.
Hell in a Handbag Productions’s world premiere play, “The Real Housewives of the North Pole,” just opened at The Clutch in North Center.
David Cerda, founding artistic director of Hell in a Handbag, wrote and stars in the “Real Housewives” show, which started as part of a different production. “Last year, we did a show called ‘Rudolph the Red Hosed Reindeer,’ which is our classic show,” said Cerda.
“We did a segment in it showing what a mess Mrs. Claus was because she had an addiction problem, and she was a guest on ‘The Real Housewives of the North Pole.’ It was just a seven minute segment, but it went over so well,” Cerda said. “And I listen to my audience.”
“Real Housewives” stars the queens of the winter wonderland, Ruth Claus, Mrs. Samantha Frosty, Suzy Snowflake, Mrs. Gladys Dasher (Cerda) and Clarice, who is the long suffering wife of Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.
“It’s been a rough year for the arts,” said David Cerda (center). “It is healing, and it is bringing people together, especially us — we call ourselves a queer theater company. There’s a big LGBTQ-plus audience, but we get a lot of allies who want to laugh with us too. They want to be together with us. And we love our audience.”
Courtesy of Rick Aguilar Studios
“It was a lot of fun because I did my research,” said Cerda. “I watched ‘Real Housewives of Atlanta’ because I love NeNe Leakes, just because she’s the loudest and most opinionated. But, I had my friends recommend certain housewives, and the top ones were Salt Lake City, New York and Beverly Hills. So I binged a bunch of those.”
The parody provides plenty of laughs, but Cerda is aware of the larger context. In a year that has brought federal cuts to arts funding, as well as federal executive orders aimed at censuring “gender ideology,” this comedy has a deeper meaning.
“It’s been a rough year for me,” Cerda said. “It’s been a rough year for the arts. It is healing, and it is bringing people together, especially us — we call ourselves a queer theater company. There’s a big LGBTQ-plus audience, but we get a lot of allies who want to laugh with us too. They want to be together with us. And we love our audience.”
Building community through laughs is also the aim of Theater Wit in Lake View, which is staging its fifth year of “Who’s Holiday.” Veronica Garza portrays the adult version of Cindy Lou Who.
“A lot of people are familiar with Cindy Lou Who; she was the child in ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas,’” said Garza. “Now we’re seeing Cindy Lou Who, decades later, she lives in a trailer, and she’s drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes, and she’s had a tough life.”
The one-person-show is an 80-minute sprint, with Garza telling jokes, singing songs, throwing a party and inviting a few lucky audience members to become part of the show. Garza describes the production as a Christmas tale with a twist.
“It kind of turns Christmas on its head, because we see a lot of very sweet, heartfelt, lovely Christmas stories,” she said. “And this is sweet and heartfelt, but it comes with curse words and marijuana.”
Garza said the show is a little different every year, but this year it feels especially right to bring people together.
“This year has been so overwhelming,” she said. “We need each other so bad, and we need our funny friend to tell jokes to us, so we can maybe kind of just forget for a little bit how hard this year has been.”
At Second City, Chicago’s hub for improv in Old Town, “Rudolph Runs Wild” gives kids a space to laugh at the holidays and at their favorite adults. The production is an offshoot of a former show called “No Grownups Allowed,” said Jen Ellison, the company’s artistic director.
“The goal was for us to create a show that could be enjoyed by adults, but really was for the kids,” she said. “No grown up is allowed to offer a suggestion. If we hear a grown up offer a suggestion, they get called out and then brought up onto the stage, and they have to perform some sort of a task. It’s very safe, but the kids go bananas.”
Families can also laugh together at the stage version of the modern-day Christmas classic “Elf,” which runs through December 14 at The Auditorium. It’s based on the film version starring comedian Will Ferrell. The story centers around Buddy, an elf who learns he’s human and heads to New York to find his real father. Jack Ducat plays Buddy. He said stepping into the role formerly played by Ferrell is a big deal for him.
“The movie came out in 2003 which is when I was born,” he said. “So from birth, I have seen this movie every single year, and am obsessed with it. For me, the greatest challenge of the show, and the most fun part of the show, is that I get to step into the shoes that Will Ferrell wore.”
Ducat said the musical has a lot of surprises for fans, a lot of dance numbers and a few nods to the film that will spark some nostalgia, like the scene where Buddy discovers a revolving door for the first time.
During performances, Ducat said he’s noticed whole families at the show, some even dressed as elves.
“Bringing a show that just has absolute, unencumbered joy to it is what so many people need,” Ducat said. “And to get the opportunity to be one of the people that gets to spread so much joy and cheer this year is the greatest Christmas gift I could have ever asked for.”
Mike Davis is a theater reporter who covers stages across Chicago.