Celebration Theater Presents SANTA CLAUS IS COMING OUT

By: Dec. 12, 2011
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Celebration Theatre has announced the return of acclaimed solo performer JEFFREY SOLOMON in his Off-Broadway smash hit, Santa Claus IS COMING OUT and to be produced for Celebration Theatre by Artistic Director John Michael Beck. Santa Claus IS COMING OUT will be presented on Monday, December 12, Tuesday, December 13 and Wednesday, December 14 all at 8pm at Celebration Theatre, 7051B Santa Monica Blvd. in Hollywood.

JEFFREY SOLOMON's acclaimed one-man mock-u-mentary explores the secret romantic life of the great holiday icon and the controversy that engulfs the world when the truth is revealed. When a little boy's gender atypical gift request to the North Pole is denied, a series of heart-felt letters from the child nudge Santa Claus out of the closet and into the culture wars. A theatrical documentarian in the mold of Anna Deveare Smith and the Laramie Project, Mr. Solomon purports to have interviewed, and portrays, all of the key players in the scandal that has come to be known as ‘Santa-Gate'.

These include little gay Gary, his confused mom and angry dad, Santa's fake-actress wife, his Agent, his longtime companion and Mary Ellen Banfield, a conservative activist who is fighting to institute a Santa NO FLY ZONE. The play was inspired by the debate on providing gay role models to children, and the "parents' rights" movement to keep gay issues out of the classroom. The subject matter is especially timely given the recent efforts of some activists and educators to speak to children more openly about LGBT issues in the wake of gay teen suicides, and the accusations from social conservatives that these are just thinly veiled attempts to promote the gay lifestyle to children.

Santa Claus IS COMING OUT ran Off Broadway on Theatre Row at the Kirk Theatre in 2009 in a production Neil Genzlinger for the NY Times called "a delightful surprise" and added, "This isn't a clumsy parody, but a sensitive, imaginative tale that really is about a boy's realization that he is different. Mr. Solomon portrays an amazing range of characters, all of them beautifully." This production was originally produced in New York by Diverse City Theater, Penguin Rep and Shotgun Productions. Directed by Joe Brancato, Sound design by Jill Du Boff, original music by Andrew ingkavet and Jason Webb, Projections designed by David Derr.

JEFFREY SOLOMON's other solo play Mother/SON has been seen at HERE Art Center (NY), Celebration Theatre (L.A.), and he received a Joseph Jefferson Nomination for Best Actor for the same performance in Chicago at the Bailiwick Rep. Internationally, Mother/SON has been seen on London's Off West End at the New End and Oval House Theatres, the Edinburgh Fringe, Homotopia in Liverpool, the Leeds International Jewish Performing Arts Festival, and the 4th Floor (Mumbai, India.) His performance won the Best Actor Award in Dublin's Absolut Gay Theatre Festival as well as the Awards for Audience Favorite, Best Playwriting and Best Male Solo Performer at the Columbus National Gay and Lesbian Theatre Festival. Santa Claus is Coming Out won the Best of the Fest at the same festival. The play had its premiere at the Bailiwick Pride Series in Chicago. As a writer, Solomon wrote the pilot for Jim

Henson's CityKids, which received an Emmy nomination for Best Children's Special and an Ollie Award for Excellence in Children's Programming. He was staff writer for Carsey-Werner/ABC TV, Tri-Star/Fox, and Nickelodeon. Jeff is the co-Artistic Director of Houses on the Moon Theater Co. which premiered his DE NOVO at 59e59 Street Theaters in New York. For more information about Solomon's work, visit www.jeffsolo.com.
Director Joe Brancato is the Artistic Director and founder of Penguin Rep Theatre. He directed Karoline Leach's Tryst (Outer Critic's Nominee, Best Play) starring Maxwell Caulfield at the Promenade Theatre; Lee Blessing's Cobb (Drama Desk winner) produced by Kevin Spacey and Melting Pot at the Lucille Lortel Theatre and co- produced by Mr. Spacey and Garry Marshall in Los Angeles; George Walker's Escape From Happiness starring Marsha Mason; The Big Swing (starring Madeline Kahn, Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick, Marisa Tomei) and Dr. Valentine's Waltz (starring John Turturro, Laura Linney, Gina Gershon, Jane Alexander) at Naked Angels.

Santa Claus IS COMING OUT will be performed for a special 3-night engagement on Monday, December 12, Tuesday, December 13 and Wednesday, December 14. All performances start at 8pm. Ticket prices are $20 in advance and $25 at the door.

Santa Claus IS COMING OUT is performed at Celebration Theatre, 7051B Santa Monica Blvd. in Hollywood. For Tickets, please call 323-957-1884 or visit the Celebration Theatre website at www.celebrationtheatre.com.


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