BWW Reviews: SANTALAND DIARIES Brings Crumpet Back to Open Stage

It's the holiday season, and you're longing for entertainment. The Grinch? Too mean, until he's saved by Cindy Lou Who, and then it's all too adorable. Frosty? Too angst-ridden - that melting! A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS? Too awfully sincere. IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE? Too depressing. Buddy the elf? Too... Buddy. A CHRISTMAS CAROL? Seen it a million times, one version or another.

No. You want "tastes great, less filling." You want something more adult than Frosty or Rudolph, something that's not a downer, something that's got a little bite, that's not all kiddie marshmallow fluff. You want it to be a little adult, a little... not cynical, but at least somewhat more realistic than flying sleighs and talking snowmen. And, well, funny. You want your spirits lifted, not crisis intervention. The holiday season can be depressing enough already.

The prescription for you is THE SANTALAND DIARIES, currently finishing, alas, at Open Stage of Harrisburg. Last run there in 2012, it has potential to be a Christmas season tradition for the area. Written by David Sedaris, originally read on NPR, it was adapted into a basically-one-man show by Joe Mantello in 1996. At Open Stage it's directed by Don Alsedek and stars, once again, Stuart Landon as the infinitely semi-disturbed Crumpet the Elf.

THE SANTALAND DIARIES is David Sedaris' loose (some would say very loose) recollections of working as a Macy's elf at Christmas at Macy's Herald Square. As would-be actor David finds work training as an elf for Macy's elaborate SantaLand, rather than a starring role on a soap opera, he, and his incarnation as Crumpet, narrowly avoid insanity in a place a bit more dysfunctional than delightful.

Landon seems only ordinary as the rather ordinary David, but as he transforms his outfit, and his mind, into Crumpet's, the fun begins. His Crumpet monologue, from the learning of cash registers to the learning of various Santa quirks, is a feast of silliness delivered with some hysterical physical histrionics, mostly dealing with Santa's giant Santa throne. Landon has most definitely made Crumpet his own, and we should indeed be very, very afraid between the laughs. Especially during his observations that Santa is an anagram of Satan, touching on, without addressing, the thought of Crumpet in SatanLand, we recognize that Crumpet is Not Quite Right, and can only wonder if he'll return to sanity when he changes back into street clothes. Landon's transformations, first into Crumpet and then into a holiday-season-debilitated Crumpet make the show as much if not more than Sedaris' story.

In this production, special notice must be made of Fardels Bear, playing the stuffed bear on stage. It appeared previously in GIDION'S KNOT as well as some other shows, and the veteran stuffed animal may well be expected to be seen in future performances at Open Stage. He's a relatively low-key performer, giving the lie to adages about performing on stage with children and animals, as he never upstages Landon at any time in their interaction. If ever a stuffed animal were in line for a featured performer award, it is Fardels. (Talented as Landon may be, Fardels' understated work speaks volumes as to the greatness of this bear's art.) Another stage appearance is made by Gwen Alsedek in a walk-on role, and a giant inflatable penguin first placed on set in a prior production by original set designer Jim Woland appears on stage in Woland's honor.

A CHRISTMAS STORY seems to have become the play of choice across the region as the family-friendly production offered up for the season. However, THE SANTALAND DIARIES, while perhaps less child-friendly, is the superior offering, and is really funnier. If Open Stage does decide to make it a firm holiday tradition in the area, it won't be a disappointment.

At Open Stage through the 28th, and worth it just to see Landon deliver Crumpet's sudden fiendish turn in the Santa/Satan moment, as well as trying to maneuver in the Big Guy's chair. It's followed by Lorraine Hansberry's A RAISIN IN THE SUN in February - like the Arden in Philly, Open Stage is running RAISIN the season after performing CLYBOURNE PARK.

Call 717-232-OPEN or visit www.openstagehbg.com.

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