Santa Claus Is Coming Out...

[Cornus]

For those in the NYC area, this looks like a fun show:

Official_Press_Release 07:31 am EDT 07/14/05
Solo Show "SANTA CLAUS IS COMING OUT...or How the Gay Agenda Came Down My Chimney" Returns To New York City For Two Performances Only As Part Of The Sixth Annual Midtown International Theatre Festival

"SANTA CLAUS IS COMING OUT...or How the Gay Agenda Came Down My Chimney," writer/solo performer Jeffrey Solomon's theatrical mockumentary about the secret life of Santa Claus will return to New York for two performances only as part of the Midtown International Theatre Festival on Sunday July 31st and August 7th at 8:30pm at the Where Eagles Dare Theatre, located at 347 W. 36th St. (ground floor). Tickets will be $15 ($12 seniors/students) and can be purchased online at www.smartTix.com, by calling 212/868-4444 or at the door. (Add'l info: www.midtownFestival.org). The production is directed by Emily Weiner with original music by Andrew Kngavet and Jason Webb.

SANTA CLAUS IS COMING OUT is a mock-u-mentary about the worldwide scandal surrounding the outing of Santa Claus. With the help of puppets, multimedia and music, Writer-Performer Jeffrey Solomon traces the intensely personal struggle of the great holiday icon, as he tries to reconcile his love relationship with Italian toy maker Giovanni Geppedo with his passion for giving to the world's children. But word of Santa's secret leaks out and the "Light A Fire For Family Values" campaign marshals its forces against him. Is that rainbow sticker on Santa's sleigh merely part of a new sense of pride or evidence of an insidious plot to indoctrinate the world's children into the homosexual lifestyle? In the documentary theater style popularized by Anna Deveare Smith and The Laramie Project, Mr. Solomon purports to have interviewed all the key players in the incident that has come to be known as Santa-gate and portrays over a dozen of them including a macho elf foreman, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Santa's hard-boiled old school agent, his pretentious fake actress/wife and an Eminem-style rapper. SANTA CLAUS IS COMING OUT plays out against the backdrop of the latest salvo in America's Culture Wars: the debate on providing gay role models to children and is inspired by Mr. Solomon's research into the so-called parent's rights movement which is struggling to keep gay issues out of the classroom.

The critics were virtually unanimous in their praise for Chicago and New York productions of SANTA CLAUS IS COMING OUT. Chris Jones of The Chicago Tribune called Solomon a very funny and detailed performer...with a nicely sharp satirical knife." The Chicago Free Press called the show a "four star charmer!" The New York Post described the show as a "warm-hearted, feel-good romp," while TheaterMania called it "charming and hilarious...thought provoking and genuinely moving!" The play took top honors at the 2002 Columbus National Gay and Lesbian Theater Festival where it received the Best of the Festival Award, Best Direction and Best Technical Design.

Solomon's other one-man show, "MotherSON" ran off-Broadway in '98 and has toured nationally. In Chicago, he received a Jeff Citation nomination for Outstanding Actor in a Leading Role. He wrote the pilot for CityKids (Jim Henson Productions), which was Emmy nominated as Best Children's Special as well as winning an Ollie Award for Outstanding Children's Programming. He also wrote for Davis Rules (ABC), Tribeca (FOX) and pilots for Nickelodeon and Disney Channel. As an actor he appeared Off Broadway in Robert Patrick's Blue is for Boys, John Glines Men of Manhattan and nationally with Italian Folk Theater's Igullari di Piazza.

We look forward to seeing you at "SANTA CLAUS IS COMING OUT...or How the Gay Agenda Came Down My Chimney," part of the Sixth Annual Midtown International Theatre Festival. The show will be performed for two nights only - on Sunday, July 31st and Sunday August 7th at 8:30pm. Tickets are $15.00 ($12.00 for students and seniors) and can be purchased by calling 212-868-4444 or by going to www.smarttix.com. Additional information on the Festival can be found at www.midtownfestival.org.