Nite Lights

By Pat Taylor

This week I enjoyed one wildly wacky world premiere musical comedy..

A Don’t Hug Me Christmas Carol

NORTH HOLLYWOOD- If you’re looking to be educated, titilated, validated, or stimulated, don’t see this one! On the other hand, if you’re ready to laugh your fool head off, at the zaniest, goofiest, most nonsensical musical comedy in town, book your seats today! Playwright Phil Olson (book and lyrics) has made quite a name for himself in the past decade, celebrating the quirky, exaggerated, down home characters and lifestyles of the “common folk” residing in Minnesota. “Yah, sure, you bet-cha!” His brother, Paul (a Chief of Nephrology back home), composes the music for each play. This current holiday laughfest is a sequel to the, smash hit, Don’t Hug Me, which has been booked and performed in 35 cities since 2003. Other manic Minnesota themed winners have included Crappie Talk and A Nice Family Gathering (both riotous!). This one billed as “Fargo” meets “A Christmas Carol,” is so delightfully ditzy that although you recognize that it’s as nutty as a Christmas fruitcake…you just can’t stop laughing! Sean Mulcahy, a 20-year veteran director of successful TV shows, play-fully guides this cast of lunatics, with fast-paced, well-timed vigor. On Christmas Eve in Bunyan Bay, Minnesota, grumpy bar owner Gunner storms out on his wife, Clara, “bah-humbugging” Christmas. He falls through the ice on his skidoo, and goes into a coma, returning to his bar in a dream, for a revealingly, riotous look at his life and marriage. His rival and ex-friend, songwriting folk legend Sven Yorgensen, who has become an international man of the world, acts as the Ghost of Christmas Past, Present and Future, in a screwy “Dickens-esque” way, (a dapper Chris Winfield) while lusting over Gunners wife Clara (a sweetly loveable Therese Lentz). Phil Olson is frantically funny, as the cantankerous, big oaf, Gunner, discovering the error of his ways, and his songs are hilarious! Titles like “The Christmas Cheese Polka,” “The Wheel Is Turnin’ , But the Hamster Is Dead,” and “I Love You More Than Football” should give you an idea of what to expect. Mark Atha is a scream as the ever-horny Kanute, and the adorable Emily Trempe is saucy fun playing Bernice and Tiny Tim (great voice too). Chris Winfield’s gorgeous set design (with the help of Phil Olson and Sean Mulcahy) is brilliantly inviting and cleverly detailed. Except for some slipping Minnesota accents here and there, this is a crowd-pleasing, holiday hoot… running through New Years Eve at The Group Repertory Theatre, 10900 Burbank Blvd. in North Hollywood. For seats/times call (818) 700-4878.