Interludes

VIEWPOINTS – An overview of ALTERNATIVE HOLIDAY FARE: From mildly off the beaten path, to the thoughtfully tangental, to the wacky remixes

• By drediman
• December 23, 2025
• No Comments

For those of you looking for some alternative fare for your holiday entertainment, there are certainly options beyond the big guns (e.g., New York City Ballet’s production of Balanchine’s The Nutcracker, The Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall, Cirque du Soleil’s ‘Twas the Night Before). Over the past few weeks, I’ve been able to take in a number of these less mainstream offerings across theater, cabaret, dance, and beyond. Although by no means comprehensive, here is a roundup of what I encountered, thematically arranged.

Mildly Off the Beaten Path

If you’re seeking for options that are only slightly off the beaten path, may I suggest two cozy, modestly scaled offerings that only mildly tweak holiday classics to keep things interesting for discerning, traditionally-inclined show-goers. First of these is Irish Repertory Theatre’s period-perfect staging of It’s a Wonderful Life!: A Live Radio Play (RECOMMENDED). As its title suggests, the regularly-staged production has been adapted, wittily, from the beloved 1946 film starring James Stewart into the form of a live radio play — complete with chuckle-inducing advertisement jingles (e.g., did you know that Lucky Strike cigarettes are good for your health?) — in which you’ll partake as a member of a live studio audience (you’re even encouraged to applaud when a prompter lights up). Efficiently staged and sprinkled with Christmas carols and authentic good cheer, the whole experience is like snuggling up to an old friend in front of a fireplace. The other suggestion I place in this category is Dances Patrelle’s production of The Yorkville Nutcracker (RECOMMENDED), a longtime Christmastime resident at the Danny Kaye Playhouse at Hunter College. In this distinctly New York version of the ubiquitous The Nutcracker, choreographer Francis Patrelle has populated the production with American historical figures (e.g., Theodore Roosevelt), life-sized mice, and iconic New York City locations like Gracie Mansion, Central Park, and the New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx. Although obviously not danced at the same high technical level as New York City Ballet’s iconic version, there’s nonetheless ample charm and choreographic delights throughout. This year’s iteration of the local classic also boasted City Ballet principals Miriam Miller and Tyler Angle in the roles of Sugar Plum and her Cavalier, respectively. The glamorous Miller was particularly breathtaking, giving a stylish performance that serves her reputation as one of dance’s current “it” ballerinas.

The Thoughtfully Tangental

If total immersion into the holidays is just too much of a good thing, more to your taste might just be performances that have strong undercurrents of the season without totally succumbing to forced Christmastime merriment. One suggestion would be Justin Vivian Bond’s annual December cabaret appearances at Joe’s Pub. This year entitled Crushed Ice! (HIGLY RECOMMENDED), Viv’s show doesn’t shy away from darkness and bitterness — prominent feelings for many of us as we close out the kind of year we just had — instead taking stock of the current state of things through clear-eyed cultural critique, all the while cautiously tapping into the inherent hopefulness of the holidays. As always, they irresistibly meshed high brow and low brow into a seductive brew all their own. Indeed, the recent McArthur Genius Grant recipient is a master of the cabaret art form, as evidenced by their keen presence of mind, supreme wit, and wicked and sophisticated sense of humor. You can always tell Viv’s mood through their set list, and here we got selections like an exasperated “Hard Candy Christmas”, Benjamin Smoke’s “Someone’s House Always Burns at Christmas”, and a quietly urgent “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”. Then over at the always adventurous HERE, you have Puppet Parlor (RECOMMENDED), a holiday variety show with a particular emphasis on puppetry. Generously hosted by highly esteemed puppet master Basil Twist, this year’s delightfully eclectic lineup included acts by the likes of outlandish designer Machine Dazzle, legendary queer cabaret star Joey Arias (scintillatingly teasing the possible return of Arias with a Twist), up-and-coming puppeteer Tao Bennett, downtown ventriloquist Sophie Becker, and of course Twist himself. The breakout star of the evening was Becker, whose meticulous ventriloquist skills and subtly subversive humor had me beguiled. Over the course of the evening — which featured jolly musical accompaniment by Jono Mainelli on keys — only occasionally were the holidays directly brought up, leaving it mostly to the giddy joy of creativity to provide the merriment.

Christmastime, Thoroughly Remixed

Then there are the truly offbeat holiday concoctions whose aim is to contort the season into something totally new altogether, leaving audiences high on their bizarre, brazen shenanigans. First amongst these down in the basement bar performance space of SoHo Playhouse is On the Rocks Theatre Company’s production of Edelweiss (RECOMMENDED), a Christmas pageant turned memorial service for the recently deceased Santa Claus. In this post-Santa scenario, four elves and a reindeer take turns lamenting — in song, dance, and spoken word — essentially the end of Christmas, each cathartic acts that collectively bloom into a hopeful new beginning of sorts. Although it all only lasts about 40 minutes, a small but fully committed cast put over the material with such full throttle conviction that it’s hard not to be swept up by this strangely emotional journey. Then over at the 92nd Y on the Upper East Side, I caught the return of Nut/Cracked (RECOMMENDED),the Bang Group’s bonkers take on The Nutcracker. Choreographed by David Parker to atypical recordings of selections from Tchaikovsky’s very recognizable score, the hourlong piece is an ultra-quirky deconstruction and remix of the classic holiday ballet. Parker’s gag-filled choreography is invariably rhythmic — there’s a strong nod to the tap dance tradition throughout — and silly, as if the piece was created by kids at play left to their own devices, culminating in a thumb-sucking pas de deux that had me in stitches. Finally, we have the always inappropriate Jackie Beat’s Christmas drag show at the Cutting Room. This holiday season entitled Pretty Lady Christmas (RECOMMENDED), the adults-only show is as naughty as in years past, showcasing the legendary entertainer’s dismissiveness of lip synching — this drag queen only sings live, as if in defiance of industry conventions — and penchant for re-casting Christmas and pop songs to bawdy lyrics of her own creation. In effect, Jackie is a wholly inappropriate drag version of “Weird Al” Yankovic, basking in political incorrectness and blasting the audience with her simultaneously lashing and self-effacing sense of humor. Indeed, be forewarned, no one is safe at a Jackie Beat show.