Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – Five alternative holiday treats to cap off an offbeat year

• By drediman
• December 9, 2020
• No Comments

‘Tis the season for holiday entertainment. Indeed, despite the dearth of in-person performances, there’s no shortage of incoming virtual renditions of The Nutcracker and A Christmas Carol. But given that 2020 has been far from normal, I’d perhaps recommend a more offbeat lineup of digital holiday treats to cap off the year. Here are five alternative recommendations of mine to titillate the upcoming weeks.

NUTCRACKER ROUGE
Company XIV
Through January 31

For those who would rather be naughty than nice for the holidays, I’d encourage indulging in Nutcracker Rouge, Company XIV’s adult take on classical ballet’s Christmas staple. The brainchild of artistic director Austin McCormick, the production promises to be the typically heady mix of burlesque, circus arts, and all things baroque. This year’s virtual edition of the long-running hit (in fact, 2020 marks its 10th anniversary) features eight seductive acts – both brand new conceptions and returning crowd-pleasers – as well as a deluxe cocktail kit.

TAYLOR MAC HOLIDAY SAUCE…PANDEMIC!
Park Avenue Armory
Through January 2

Who better to bring 2020 to a cataclysmic close than Taylor Mac in Holiday Sauce…Pandemic! One of the legendary performance artists of our time (his 24-hour concert a few years ago at St. Ann’s Warehouse is a highlight of my life), Mac is sure to bring mayhem and urgent reckoning to his holiday show. Described as a “virtual vaudeville”, Holiday Sauce mashes burlesque, film, music, and all sorts of other shenanigans to get you into the spirit of the season. For the event, Mac once again collaborates with the usual suspects, including wildly imaginative designer Machine Dazzle and director Matt Ray. I expect this one to be one helluva party.

MANUAL CINEMA’S CHRISTMAS CAROL
Manual Cinema
Through December 20

For me, some of the most beguiling theatrical streaming experiences of the pandemic so far has been courtesy of the multimedia outfit Manual Cinema, which just recently celebrated its 10th anniversary with a satisfying retrospective of its portfolio to date. Blending manual cinematic techniques, puppetry, original live music, and traditional theater, the Chicago-based troupe has thrived at both creating soulful new works, as well as beguilingly inverting classics we all thought we knew. Expect the latter with its take on Charles Dickens’ perennial A Christmas Carol.

CHRISTMAS IS NOT CANCELED!
Jackie Beat
Streaming December 12 & 13

The A-listers of drag and queer entertainment will be dropping by Jackie Beat’s annual holiday shindig. Entitled Christmas Is Not Canceled!, you can expect the likes of Alan Cumming, Alaska, Alec Mapa, Alison Arngrim, Bianca del Rio, Calpernia Addams, Candis Cayne, Coco Peru, Christeene, Conchita Wurst, Daniel Franzese, Elvira, Fred Schneider, Jackie Hoffman, Jinkx Monsoon, Jun Nakayama, Kate Flannery, Margaret Cho, Michael Urie, Nina West, Parker Posey, Peppermint, Ross Mathews, Selene Luna, Sherry Vine, and Varla Jean Merman to make an appearance! And of course there’s the legendary Jackie Beat herself, who is sure to be the most shady and sassy of hostesses.

WHO’S HOLIDAY!
Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS
Through December 15

During the 2017 holiday season, the outrageous Lesli Margherita headlined Matthew Lombardo’s Who’s Holiday!, a sort of irreverent sequel to Dr. Seuss’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas. In the solo show, Her Highness plays a middle-aged Cindy-Lou, who now resides in a grungy trailer upon Mount Crumpet. Mr. Lombardo pays salacious homage to Dr. Seuss’s instantly recognizable rhyming scheme, which is delivered with delicious rambunctiousness by Ms. Margherita. The stream will benefit Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS.