By Stan Jenson

Christmas is a season of so many traditions:  cinnamon-spiced lattes, carols emerging from department store speakers in early October, and folks ringing bells outside every supermarket.  One of the more enjoyable traditions is that every performing arts group, large or small, feels obliged to do a “Christmas Show.” That is especially delightful when the show is Christmas With the Crawfords.  The musical play has previously been presented in The Valley, but it is in its best shape ever with Desert Theatreworks’ current production at Margaritaville Resort.  Yes, re-read that sentence carefully. It is being presented at the popular Palm Springs resort!

The show is set in Joan Crawford’s living room and some previous productions have featured very busy versions of the Brentwood mansion but for this non-traditional venue, director Lance Phillips has chosen a starkly simple set on a thrust stage (audience on three sides) in one of the hotel’s meeting rooms.  It works like a charm.  A row of black drapes hide one-fourth of the meeting room for backstage chores, so the stark setting features a large white chaise lounge, a white fireplace with flames, and a gigantic Christmas tree against a mostly-black background.  Rather than feeling bare, the setting acts as a perfect frame for the hilariously colorful characters who will soon enter.

The show is based on an actual Christmas Eve interview the aging Joan Crawford scheduled with Hedda Hopper to be broadcast from Joan’s living room.  The first character we meet is Joan Crawford, played by Kam Sisco.  This is Sisco’s fourth time out with this character in the Coachella Valley, and he previously performed it in his native Portland, OR.  That experience shows as he milks every possible gay with sure-fire aim.  Joan starts by scrubbing every surface in her home, and then scrubbing again.  This is the first hint we have that the script is actually an homage to Faye Dunaway’s film, Mommie Dearest.  In fact, a quick re-viewing of that film would enhance your enjoyment of this comedy, but it certainly isn’t mandatory.

When Joan leaves, Bette Davis dressed as Baby Jane Hudson (Larry Martin) wanders in.  Martin has been a delight in previous productions as the uber-bratty Christine but his characterizations in this production make us realize he was being underused before.  He perfectly captures Davis’s raspy voice (remember that Davis was at the end of her career), as well as Jane’s controlling character.

We next meet Joan’s children, Christina (a hilarious Paul Crane) and Christoper, who is now relegated to being a child-sized puppet in Christina’s arms.  Crane and director Lance Phillips have decided to play Christina as a truly tough child/broad which adds delicious comedy to her constant sparring with her mother.  I kept imagining the character with a cigar hanging from her lip because she was more longshoreman than show business angel (are you old enough to remember Milton Berle?).  Crane is a constant source of laughs.

We discover that Gary Cooper lives next door and he is having a party that night.  Numerous guests mistake Joan’s house for his and appear at her door.  This gives us a chance to meet The Andrews Sisters, Judy Garland, Carmen Miranda, Gloria Swanson, Catherine Hepburn, Mae West – about a dozen luminaries played by five men.  Oh yes, did I not mention that all the characters are cross-dressed males?  Don’t worry if you don’t enjoy drag queens lip synching in virtually every bar in Palm Springs.  This is comedic theatre at its finest and the performers are actors first and foremost. There were plenty of gay men and women in attendance the night I saw it, but the two couples next to me were Desert Theatreworks regulars and appeared to be straight.  They seemed very happy that they had made the trek from Indio to Palm Springs. 

The guests who visit Joan are played by Anthony Nannini, Ian Ferris, Larry Martin, and Shel Safir.  If you recognize that last name as one of the most robust baritones in local musicals, I can only say, “Wait ‘til you see him as Hedda Hopper.”  Being the consummate actor that he is, his female characters are approached with all the skill and care he always lavishes on his male characters.  Other highlights are Anthony Nannini’s Judy Garland, complete with singing, and Larry Martin doing double-duty as Gloria Swanson.  Doug Arbulu normally plays a couple of the gals, but I saw Kai Brothers standing in for him the night I attended.

In my college days, finding non-traditional places to present theatre was the rage, so I was already happy to find this show being so effectively presented in what was normally a conference meeting room.  The lighting, mostly from the front, is helped by some very small-but-powerful footlights along the edges of the stage.   Making all the lighting and sound cues happen is Adriana Reyes, a Valley treasure!  She is billed as Stage Manager, but she does so much more, including editing sound cues backing tracks, and taking charge of performances including operating lighting and sound.

Choreography is by Anthony Nannini, costumes by Kam Sisco, wigs and makeup by James Rodriguez, and Jeff Stringer functions as house manager and assistant stage manager.

The script for Christmas With the Crawfords dates back to 1998 when Richard Winchester and Mark Sargent got together to create a unique show for their local theatre company.  It was an immediate hit, capturing the hearts of many, blending humor, nostalgia and holiday joy in a unique manner. I now realize that when I first saw it some 20 years ago, it might have been the original company!  It seems that for all productions, the script is merely a starting point.  Actors and directors take plenty of liberties adding jokes, songs, and pieces of business.  I know the written script very well having performed in it twice myself, so I was more impressed with the gags that Phillips added than some of my fellow audience members would have been. Not a laugh was missed.

You would do well to make The Crawfords an annual tradition for you and your friends and family. Desert Theatreworks’ production is top drawer from beginning to end. It plays through December 30 and tickets are available at www.DTWorks.org.

Photos by Delfin Lopez