Sedaris Penned Santaland Diaries & Season's Greetings to Run at CT's Playhouse on the Green

Forget visions of sugarplums and carols sung fireside, Playhouse on the Green has an alternative way to keep things jolly this holiday season - irreverent comedy! The 54-year-old Bridgeport theater company continues its 08-09 season with the hilarious play The Santaland Diaries - a sardonic "one-elf show" - and Season's Greetings, a one-act monologue that describes a "typical" housewife's holiday season gone terribly wrong! Both plays are by award-winning American humorist David Sedaris. The Santaland Diaries and Season's Greetings are seen on the Playhouse stage December 5-22.

Adapted for the stage by Joe Mantello, director of Nine to Five, Wicked, The Ritz, Glengarry Glen Ross, and other Broadway shows, The Santaland Diaries is based on National Public Radio commentator Sedaris' 1992 essay recounting his bizarre experiences working as a Macy's "Elf" during the holiday season. Playhouse on the Green's production stars Scott R. Brill of Shelton as Crumpet the Elf, the long-suffering victim of vicious children, nasty parents, and manipulative co-workers. Packed with witty, dry insights into crass commercialism, The Santaland Diaries is welcome antidote to the schmaltz of the season.

Season's Greetings is Sedaris' biting satire of a Martha Stewart-like housewife whose annual holiday letter reveals some very disturbing details. This dark-humored one-act stars Kim McGrath of Woodbridge.

Parental discretion is advised for dark humor and some edgy subject matter.

Scott R. Brill, who plays Crumpet the Elf, received his Masters in Theatre Directing from Emerson College in Boston where he directed Man of La Mancha, The Ruffian on the Stair, four plays by Samuel Beckett and numerous one-acts. As a performer, Scott's roles onstage include Allan Felix in Play It Again, Sam (for which he won the Square One Theatre Subscriber's Award for Outstanding Actor); Antony Wilding in Enchanted April (New Canaan Town Players); Gonzalo in The Tempest, Hortensio in The Taming of the Shrew (Putney Players); Ko-Ko in The Mikado (Musicals at Richter); Wes Hurley in Fifth of July, Lloyd Dallas in Noises Off, Jesus in Godspell (Wilton Playshop); Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet, Prince Dauntless in Once Upon a Mattress (SHU Center for the Performing Arts), and Albert in The Secret Garden (Warner Theatre). Scott also originated the roles of Father Ferriera in the musical Fatima (Mertens Theatre) and Miles Standish in Pilgrims, the Musical (Long Wharf Theatre, Stage II). Scott's directing credits for area theaters include Da, What the Butler Saw, ART, Vanities, The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940, Rumors, Our Town, Blithe Spirit, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella, The Sisters Rosensweig, The Real Thing, As Bees In Honey Drown, The Actor's Nightmare, Gypsy, South Pacific, Jeffrey, and Burn This. Scott has taught acting at Sacred Heart University where he also directed a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Scott is an Associate Member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers and last season served as President of the Westport Community Theatre. He will be directing a production of Steel Magnolias for the Darien Players in May, 2009.

Kim McGrath plays Mrs. Jocelyn Dunbar in Season's Greetings. Kim has appeared on stage in various theaters in the region as well as in Dallas where she received theater and voice-over training with Jeff Alexander. Local theater credits include the title role in A Portrait of Edna St. Vincent Millay and Sally in Lenny (The New Haven Theatre Co.); Emma in Mackerel (Theatremania); Mrs. Bragman in Blithe Spirit and Amanda in Private Lives (Eastbound Theatre); Charlotte in Moon Over Buffalo and Karen in Dinner with Friends (The Wilton Playshop); Dr. Seward in Dracula (Actor's Ensemble); and Iris in The Putney Players' production of The Tempest.

David Sedaris has become one of America's pre-eminent humor writers. He is the author of the bestsellers Barrel Fever and Holidays on Ice, as well as collections of personal essays, Naked, Me Talk Pretty One Day, and Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, each of which became immediate bestsellers. Sedaris and his sister, Amy Sedaris, have collaborated under the name "The Talent Family" and have written several plays which have been produced at La Mama, Lincoln Center, and The Drama Department in New York City. Sedaris' original radio pieces can often be heard on This American Life on NPR. In 2001, David Sedaris became the third recipient of the Thurber Prize for American Humor and he was named by Time magazine as "Humorist of the Year". David Sedaris was nominated for two Grammy Awards.

Matt Schicker, Producing Artistic Director for Playhouse on the Green, directs. Devon Spaght is Lighting Designer; Jessica Barron is Costume Designer; Jim DeVivo is Sound Designer; Jennifer Samath is Production Stage Manager; Donald Rowe is Light Board Operator. Marketing by graygraham.

Adult single tickets are $27. Senior Citizens tickets (65 and older) are $25. Student tickets (21 years and younger) are $15. Tickets can be purchased 24/7 on-line at www.playhouseonthegreen.org or by calling TheaterMania at (866) 811-4111 (phone hours 9-9 weekdays, 10-6 weekends).

Playhouse on the Green is located at 177 State Street between Main Street and Markle Court in downtown Bridgeport. Free, secure parking one block from the theater is available. For more information visit www.playhouseonthegreen.org or call 203-333-3666.

The 2008-2009 season continues with: Twelve Angry Jurors by Reginald Rose, which runs February 6-22, 2009; the Connecticut Premiere of Dedication or The Stuff of Dreams by Terrence McNally, which runs March 13-29, 2009; and The Wiz by Charlie Smalls and William F. Brown, which runs April 24-May 10, 2009. Complete schedule of all performances, exact dates and times, can be viewed at www.playhouseonthegreen.org.

The Santaland Diaries and Season's Greetings
By David Sedaris
Adapted for the stage by Joe Mantello

Performances Schedule:
Friday, December 5 at 8PM - Opening Night
Saturday, December 6 at 8PM
Sunday, December 7 at 3PM
Friday, December 12 at 8PM
Saturday, December 13 at 8PM
Sunday, December 14 at 3PM
Thursday, December 18 at 8PM
Friday, December 19 at 8PM
Saturday, December 20 at 8PM
Sunday, December 21 at 3PM

Playhouse on the Green is a 54-year-old 501(c)(3) not-for-profit theater company in residence at a beautiful 228-seat jewel-box theater in the heart of downtown Bridgeport, Connecticut. The Playhouse originated in 1954 as the Polka Dot Playhouse, located in Stratford's Redman's Hall. The company had several homes before moving to Pleasure Beach in 1967. With support of People's Bank and the State of Connecticut, the Playhouse relocated in 1999 to a renovated downtown bank building conveniently located on McLevy Green, changing its name to Playhouse on the Green shortly after. Playhouse on the Green's mission is to enrich Bridgeport's cultural life by providing an eclectic variety of live Stage Entertainment and arts education programs at an affordable cost, as well as providing opportunities for area artists. Among these programs are its mainstage season of plays and musicals; "Playhouse Greenhouse" and "Project Broadway", its arts education programs for kids and teens; a Sunday evening series of music and comedy; and the "Page to Stage New Play Reading Series", which brings the new work of Connecticut playwrights to the stage.