No Elf on a Shelf

The Santaland Diaries–at the Goodman Theatre

No Elf on the Shelf

Not everyone looks upon the holiday season with the same unbridled joy and delight as movies, musicals and television specials would have you believe is in everyone’s hearts. Even that crabby old Victorian curmudgeon, Ebenezer Scrooge, eventually found Christmas to be a season of joy and renewal. But ask someone who’s worked in the public sector during the holidays, especially in retail or hospitality, and suffered the indignities and downright rudeness of people at their worst, and you will understand how some folks look at Christmas in an entirely different light.

Back in 1992, humorist David Sedaris wrote a darkly comic essay that he first read on NPR’s “Morning Edition.” The piece was so well received that the writer included the essay in his first published collection, Barrel Fever, and later again in his seasonal tome, Holidays on Ice. In his essay, Sedaris tells of how, when he was a young man, he first relocated to New York City to become an actor. The only decent-paying job he could snag at that time was at the Herald Square Macy’s. Following a series of intrusive interviews, drug tests and questionnaires, David unbelievably found himself employed as an elf in Santa’s Workshop for the holiday shopping season. 

The experience was fraught with exasperating coworkers, annoying parents, whiny children, frustrating Santa Clauses, and was made even worse by the humiliating green velvet costume he was forced to wear. There were a myriad of moments to try the patience of the snarky, sardonic Mr. Sedaris. However, by his final day of employment, David manages to not only endure the job but to finally experience his own version of Scrooge’s epiphany.

In 1996, actor/director Joe Mantello adapted the biographical essay for the stage. Since that time, his one-man play entitled “The Santaland Diaries” has been presented almost everywhere, and has become another alternative theatrical staple for the holidays. Although Chicago has previously enjoyed this dark comedy for several seasons at Theater Wit, the Goodman has chosen the 65-minute comedy to balance their theatre offering of “A Christmas Carol.” 

In talented director Steve Scott’s bright and wonderfully entertaining production, Chicago’s favorite song-and-dance man, Matt Crowle, steps into the role of Crumpet, the Elf. This likable, versatile, mega-talented actor, known for such captivating roles as his Jeff Award-winning Luther Billis in Drury Lane’s “South Pacific,” is quite simply terrific. This is his first one-man show, but Crowle wears the dual characters of David Sedaris/Crumpet like a cozy onesie. 

When the actor first appears upon Kevin Depinet’s glorious, colorful stage setting, representing Macy’s no-expenses-spared Santa Land, he’s the foulmouthed essayist David Sedaris, recounting the events that led up to his first job in the Big Apple. While describing costumer Rachel Lambert’s hilarious, velvet atrocity, that’s to become his new work uniform, Mr. Crowle changes onstage into a green and gold smock, a green hat and curly-toed slippers, accented by red-and-white candy cane-striped tights. Only the character’s indignity is discreetly hidden beneath Crumpet’s festive fantasy attire.

Matt Crowle absolutely owns the Goodman stage as he relates the writer’s embarrassing and sometimes humbling experiences as Crumpet. Each episode is defined by Mike Durst’s subtle changes in lighting, while the actor uses the entire stage as his playground. As David, Mr. Crowle describes a clueless, overly enthusiastic fellow elf who wants to wear her costume home on the subway. Another studly elfin employee enjoys shamelessly flirting with the gay employees, and then later talking smack about them in private. He relates the embarrassment that he feels witnessing a pair of loud New Jersey dads shouting to Santa that, for Christmas, they’d each like a woman with big boobs. He humorously demonstrates how he’s been taught ASL so that he can communicate with hearing impaired children; and, in another episode, Crumpet secretly shares how it’s sometimes difficult to separate those with special needs from everyone else seeing Santa. 

No Elf on the Shelf, Mr. Crowle, through his character’s sassy, smart-mouthed, often profane comments, leaps about the stage allowing his audience to empathize with his situation. Through  the actor’s honest commitment to his role, we feel the frustration of dealing with rude, pushy parents, screaming children and obnoxious fellow employees. He describes all the various Santa Clauses with whom he’s worked, from one jolly old elf who had his routine down to a science, to another Santa who saw his job as a platform for spouting his political views. But, ultimately, the actor brings the evening to a close with one tender incident that not only changed David Sedaris, but allows Crowle’s audience to see the hustle and bustle of the holiday season through more caring, compassionate eyes.

Highly Recommended

Reviewed by Colin Douglas        

Presented November 30-December 30, in the Albert Theatre, by the Goodman Theatre, 170 N. Dearborn, Chicago.

Tickets are available in person at the box office, by calling 312-443-3800 or by going to www.GoodmanTheatre.org/Santaland.

Additional information about this and other area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com.