By Scott Palmer
Founding Artistic Director, Bag&Baggage
And though it’s been said, many times, many ways…theatre folk hate Christmas.
Not in any kind of anti-religious way. Don’t get me wrong. Just think about it for a minute. Every single theatre company (not to mention symphony, chorus, ballet company and church choir) in the Western hemisphere spends most of October and November in rehearsals (usually in the cold and dark), and then spends almost all of December in tech rehearsals, dress rehearsals, and in dozens of performances – all while the rest of you get to shop, have parties, spend time with your loved ones, spread yuletide cheer and generally celebrate the joys of this most wondrous of seasons.
Yeah, it kinda pisses us off.
There are times (like now, when I’m sitting here in my office in early October, writing these director’s notes) when I wonder why…oh god why, oh why oh why…do we do it? I have spent the last 16 years up to my eyeballs in Tiny Tims, bells and angels, greedy misers, magical Christian Saints, peppermint flavored sentiment, and children so sweet they could induce a diabetic coma. Why? WHY?????
There are three reasons.
First, working on our unique brand of Christmas humor, B&B’s trademark tongue-in-cheek skewering of Christmas classics, is fun. So. Much. Fun! Over the past eight years, I have had more pants-wettingly funny rehearsal experiences during the holiday show than I can remember. Singing Christmas Carols on the MAX train during a snow storm, being trapped with the cast at a local restaurant when there was 14 inches of snow on the ground, coming up with all of the sound effects for the first radio show spoof, Tiny Tim’s aria in our first production of A Christmas Carol, the Riverdance homage during Farndale, dueling Jimmy Stewarts…there are, in fact, too many hilarious moments with the actors for me to recall. It is, simply put, fun.
Second, holiday shows sell and the income we make from them largely support the work we do in the rest of the season. Think about this fact for a moment: we usually sell more than twice as many tickets to the holiday show than we do to almost any other production during the season. As a result, the holiday show is an enormous part of our financial strength; the ticket income we make from the holiday show supports all of the other provocative, risk-taking work we do throughout the rest of the season… (which, by the way, reminds me of what you can get me for Christmas: as many patrons for Moby Dick, Rehearsed as we will have for A KBNB Kristmas Karol!).
Third, the holidays are a time for community and family and we are honored to play a part in YOUR community and YOUR family’s holiday celebrations. Truly, we are so lucky to be able to do this work for you; to bring some levity, frivolity, joy and humor to your holidays is an absolute honor, and we are grateful beyond words that you have chosen to spend a part of your holidays with us.
In all honesty, working with these actors on the trilogy of 1940s radio show spoofs has been one of the highlights of my professional career. I want to thank Gary Strong and Jessica Geffen particularly; as the only two members of the original cast of It’s A (somewhat) Wonderful Life, Gary and Jessica have been put through this farcical wringer every year for three years…and not only have they lived to tell the tale, they also continue to double down and say “yes” to pretty much anything I need them to do. All of the actors in all three of these shows have been fearless; bringing an enthusiasm and eagerness to their work that is truly joyful.
So, I guess, in a way, I need to retract what I said before about theatre folks hating Christmas….now that I think about it, I get to spend my holidays with incredibly talented people, laughing and enjoying each other’s company, creating lifelong memories, and sharing the joy of the season with my community.
Pretty much what Christmas is all about, right?
From all of us at Bag&Baggage to all of you (the people we do this crazy thing called theatre for…) Happy Holidays and may your New Year be filled with peace and love.
Click here for tickets to A KBNB Kristmas Karol
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