HOPE FOR THE HOLIDAYS Comes To Cotuit Center For The Arts

Cotuit Center for the Arts presents "Hope for the Holidays," a comical music revue written by Jo Brisbane, December 6 to 30 in the Black Box Theater. Performances are Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 PM and Sunday at 2 PM. Tristan DiVincenzo is Stage & Scenic Director and Malcolm Granger is Music Director for the revue, a spoof of 1960s televised Christmas specials.

According to Brisbane, "Hope for the Holidays" draws its characters from her full-length play "The Hope Henderson Show". The characters inhabit an imaginary television station, located Nowhere, U.S.A., and Hope Henderson is its fictional TV Hostess. Brisbane and Granger have collected both familiar and obscure holiday music for the spoof and collaborated on lyric adaptations, arrangements and an original theme song.

"I genuinely love the music of this era, from the tight harmonies to the humorous lyrics," says Granger. "Working with Jo and Tristan is a scream, as we create new twists on classic holiday music. I have already worked with many of our cast and guest stars, as music director on other Cape Cod shows. I know the depth of their talent and I am really jazzed to become part of this spoofy TV family."

DiVincenzo has long been involved with Brisbane's concept for Hope Henderson and her spinoffs. "Jo and I have been cracking up for over two years while putting together this dream cast. The first question I get is, what is the show like? I usually tell people that it is the lost episode where The Lawrence Welk Show singers and The King Family Show singers guest star on The Pee-Wee Herman Show! Jo trusts me to find the funny in this script and with her weird humor, it's not that tough. We're creating some insane visuals ranging from a stop motion animation Public Service Announcement to a Nutcracker Nightmare Dream Ballet sequence. If you need a good laugh to round out 2018, then join us in the CCftA Black Box Theater!"

"Hope for the Holidays" will feature many Cape favorites, including: Cleo Zani, Jay Stewart, Karen Berg McPherson, Jane Loutzenhiser, Ashley LaCroix, Elin Hirsch, Tom Crutchfield, and Jo Brisbane. In addition to that core cast, each show will feature guest stars (also drawn from CCftA alumni, friends and family). Guest Stars slated to appear include: Larry Marsland; Tedi Marsh & David Kuehn; Oriana Camish & Stephen Ross; Celeste Howe; Patricia Fitzpatrick; Anthony Teixeira; Stephen Colella; Ruth Condon Price; Rebecca Riley; Amanda Wing; Laura Shea; Jon Cornet; and several other Brisbanes.

"Whether you're an original early sixties swinger, or a mid-century modern hipster, you will recognize the style of our spoof," says Brisbane. "Come mingle and jingle with Hope and her talented TV family, as we shake up all the holidays of the season!"

Tickets are $20, $15 for members. Cotuit Center for the Arts is at 4404 Route 28 in Cotuit. For more information, visit www.artsonthecape.org or call 508-428-0669.

Photo by Tristan DiVincenzo