Hell in a Handbag Productions Continues CHRISTMAS DEAREST, Now thru 1/5

Hell in a Handbag is proud to announce that Christmas Dearest, their new holiday show is adding 4 performances to accommodate the incredible demand for tickets. The added performances will play this weekend, Jan. 3, 5 7:30pm and Jan. 4 at 3:30pm & 7:30pm.

Audiences and critics alike have embraced the new Chicago show destined to become a camp classic. Christmas Dearest tells the tale of Hollywood superstar, Joan Crawford, and the important lessons she learns one Christmas Eve.

T'was the night before Christmas and MGM's biggest star, Miss Joan Crawford, is playing the title role in "Oh Mary", a splashy new musical biopic about The Virgin Mary, Mother of God.

Poor Joan (David Cerda) needs a drink. And a REWRITE! Jesus has all the best lines, the costumes aren't sexy at all, and the guy playing Joseph is a big clumsy oaf! If they will just do it Joan's way, maybe she can salvage the picture.

Life away from the camera lens is just as exasperating. Joan's trusty assistant, Carol Ann (Ed Jones), has the nerve to want Christmas day off to be with her 'family', and everywhere Joan turns somebody is looking for a handout for one charity or another. Then there's Christina, the daughter from hell who loves to make Joan miserable and succeeds in spades.

Christmas Dearest is Hell in a Handbag's take on Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol as told by Handbag's Artistic Director, David Cerda, author of Rudolph the Red-Hosed Reindeer, Handbag's long running-holiday (15 years) classic. "I love doing 'Rudolph' and although we update it every year, it was just time to do something different, 'says Cerda. "I think people are going to really love Joan Crawford as Ebenezer Scrooge" adds Cerda.

Other Handbag ensemble member in the cast include Alex Grelle, Steve Love, Michael J. Hampton and Sydney Genco. Returning to Handbag our Katherine Glavin (Rudolph) , Jamie Smith (The Birds), and Michael John Lea (The Birds).

Newcomers to Hell in a Handbag include Chicago theater veteran Jeremy Trager, Christopher Lewis, Grant Drager and Caitlin Jackson.

Join us as Joan visits her shady past, her appalling present and her eye-popping future- in a tale of glamorous redemption set to music.

Hell in a Handbag Mission Statement: HIAH is dedicated to the preservation, exploration, and celebration of works ingrained in the realm of popular culture via theatrical productions through parody, music, and homage.