The Ringwald Theatre presents Matthew Lombardo’s “Who’s Holiday,” with Vince Kelley as a grown-up Cindy Lou Who Dec. 2 to 19 at the playhouse at Affirmations Community Center, 290 W. 9 Mile Road in Ferndale. For tickets or more information got to theringwald.com.
Whether it’s an adult satire or wholesome family fare, holiday shows are shining bright on local stages. The Ringwald in Ferndale presents “Who’s Holiday!” while P.S. Center Stage Players of Wyandotte present “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” and DYPAC in Trenton presents “White Christmas.”
RINGWALD PRESENTS A GROWN-UP CINDY LOU WHO IN ‘WHO’S HOLIDAY!’
The Ringwald Theatre kicks off the holiday season with Matt Lombardo’s adult comedy “Who’s Holiday!” Dec. 2 to 19, which features an adult Cindy Lou Who recalling the Christmas Eve when she met the Grinch and the twisted turns her life has taken since.
Vince Kelley performs the role of tart-tongued Cindy Lou Who as she tells the audience, from her kitchenette, about the dark, funny and melancholy ride her life has become.
Director Suzan Jacokes said working on the show brought her joy and she found directing a one-person show to be interesting.
“The juxtaposition is between the child Cindy everyone knows and the complicated adult she has become,” she said.
Jacokes said Cindy Lou has changed in every way from the innocent child of the original story and Kelley brings out the humor in the character.
Kelley said the Ringwald is the best at serving up campy entertainment for the holidays.
“I love the idea of taking someone that you think you know, like Cindy Lou Who, and making you go, ‘Oh, that’s not what I was expecting,’” he said.
Kelley said since Cindy Lou Who speaks in rhyme, learning to talk-the-talk was a challenge.
“Cindy Lou talks with a very specific speech pattern, so cracking that code was the most difficult part,” he said. “It’s the sweet and spicy juxtaposition that really makes her who she is.”
Kelley said this type of show is what the Ringwald does best.
“How many freaking times can you go and see a production of ‘A Christmas Carol?’” he asked. “Give us a chance. Try something new.”
The show runs 8 p.m. Dec. 2, 3, 5, 9, 10, 12, 16, 17 and 19; and 3 p.m. Dec. 4, 11 and 18 at its theater at Affirmations Community Center, 290 W. 9 Mile Road in Ferndale.
Tickets are $25 for the Friday, Saturday and Sunday shows and $15 for the Monday performances, and are available at theRingwald.com. The theater has gone cashless, but will accept credit cards for ticket purchases at the door.
The show is for adults only. Guests are encouraged to wear masks, but they are no longer mandatory.
P.S. CENTER STAGE PLAYERS PRESENT ‘THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER’
Wyandotte’s P.S. Center Stage Players present Barbara Robinson’s holiday comedy “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” at 7 p.m. Dec. 1, 2, 7 and 9 at the Jo Brighton Auditorium, 4460 18th St. in Wyandotte.
Directed by Penny Lynn Siler, the show follows a couple struggling to stage a Christmas pageant while casting the notorious Herdman siblings, who leave mayhem and fun in their wake.
Tickets are $12 for general admission, $10 for seniors, students and military personnel and $5 for children age 12 and younger. Tickets are available at the door.
DYPAC PRESENTS ‘WHITE CHRISTMAS’
The Downriver Youth Performing Arts Center presents Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas – The Musical” at 7 p.m. Dec. 2, 3, 9 and 10 and 2 p.m. Dec. 4 at the Trenton Village Theatre, 2447 W. Jefferson Ave. in Trenton.
Based on the movie by the same name, it follows the story of two World War II buddies turned entertainers who pair up with a pair of singing sisters who help the men’s former commander save his Vermont Inn, languishing for lack of snow, by staging a show and bringing their Army buddies to the inn for a reunion.
It features musical favorites like, “White Christmas,” “Sisters,” “The Best Things Happen While You’re Dancing,” “Snow,” “Count Your Blessings,” “We’ll Follow the Old Man” and “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm.”
Mary Zaleski directs the show, with assistant direction by Patrick Yaeger, with Karen Rutowski producing, music and vocals by Audra Baas and choreography by Nina Nelson.
For tickets, go to showtix4u.com/events/16162.
MELVINDALE HIGH SCHOOL PRESENTS ‘EPIC PROPORTIONS’
Melvindale High School presents Larry Coen and David Crane’s comedy “Epic Proportions” at 7 p.m. Dec. 2 and 3 at the high school, 18656 Prospect St. in Melvindale.
Set in the 1930s, the show follows two brothers who travel to an Arizona desert to work as extras in a Biblical epic film – along with thousands of others. However, the film starts to take a disastrous turn, so the brothers try to salvage the production, while both falling in love with the leading lady.
Tickets are available at the door.
HFC PRESENTS ‘THE PASSAGE’
The Henry Ford College Theatre Arts Department presents the Robert Lawson drama “The Passage” at 8 p.m. Dec. 1 to 3 and 2 p.m. Dec. 4 at the MacKenzie Fine Arts Center, Building F, 5101 Evergreen Road in Dearborn.
Directed by John Sefel, Ph.D., the new director of theatre, “The Passage” is a retelling of Melville’s classic novel, “Moby Dick.”
The show incorporates music, dance, puppets and film to tell of Captain Ahab’s obsession with the whale Moby Dick, as seen through the eyes of a young sailor, Ishmael, who is on his first whaling voyage.
The story expands upon the novel by exploring the lives of the sailors boarding The Pequod, as well as those that wait for their return on land.
Sefel said he has chosen a season that explores ways that people deal with difficult times and move on.
“All three productions this year are based around the struggle of finding a way forward in the midst of great difficulty,” he said. “But first, we begin with Captain Ahab, a person who refused to move on, and doomed himself and his crew due to his obsession with the past.”
In January, the theatre department will present “Tenderly” and “5 a.m. Pancakes,” which focus on college-age characters dealing with COVID-19 and political upheaval.
In April, the college will present “She Kills Monsters,” which focuses on a young woman trying to regain her personal strength and voice following a personal tragedy.
Tickets are $12, with a $5 discount for HFC students, faculty and staff, and for seniors and minors. To purchase tickets online, go to hfcc.edu/campus-life/theatre.