Review: WHO KILLED SANTA? -A Fun Puppet Show, a Little Rough Around the Edges

WHO KILLED SANTA?/by Neil Haven/ directed by Ronnie Marmo/NoHo Arts Center/thru January 2, 2016

The West Coast Premiere of playwright Neil Haven's WHO KILLED SANTA? features wonderful puppet work and clever re-workings of classic holiday songs. Ronnie Marmo directs his cast of five puppet characters and Santa Claus (Thomas F. Evans doing quadruple duty as also The Detective, The Tooth Fairy and Mrs. Claus).

This unevenly written set-up has Santa, not the nicest of bosses (and kind of a letch) holding his annual holiday (not Christmas) party for his regulars Frosty The Snowman, Tiny Tim, Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer and Steve, The Little Drummer Boy. With Mrs. Claus away in India, Santa introduces a new conquest into the group -- Chastity, The Little Drummer Girl. With more complaining and arguing than pleasantries, a number of characters get murdered during the course of this gathering with the surviving guests left to figure out the murderer/s.

Haven wittily sends up some old Christmas chestnuts, like "Silent Night," "Carol of the Bells," "Baby, It's Cold Outside;" with the cast harmonizing most beautifully in "Here Comes Santa Claus" and "Good King Wenceslas."

Jonathan Berenson warmly voices Frosty easily exhibiting Frosty's insecurities, self-doubt and bad joke telling. Berenson shares Frosty's puppetry with Peter Osterweil who coordinates seamlessly as Frosty's Right Arm. Berenson's voice would make for a great cartoon voice-over.

Marissa Fennell (another unique voice-over sound) nicely portrays Rudolph as a slightly gender-confused, disgruntled reindeer employee of the man in the red suit. Fennell gets her dramatic moment to shine in her revealing admission of her deep dark secret.

Jotapé Lockwood has lots of fun as the hard rocker Steve. His simultaneous head banging with his puppet's simply hilarious and his strong operatic vocal turn out of the blue stuns.

Katie Zeiner's comic timing's perfect for her Tiny Tim, especially in her stutterings. Zeiner even walks around stage with a limp mirroring Tiny Tim's dependence on his cane.

Rebecca Rose Phillips works her Chastity as the wide-eyed innocent and newbie to the group. Phillips duet with Fennell in "The Little Drummer Boy" kills. But even funnier than that --Chastity's not-so-innocent 'sex scene' with Tiny Tim. Smoking enough to almost start a fire (on Tim's cane, that is).

Ed Cosico, as the Grumpy Elf, gives able synthesizer back-up to the tunes.

Kudos to Libby Letlow for her very cute big-headed puppets.

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