Review: THE BIG FAT CHRISTMAS SHOW at El Portal Theatre

The Big Fat Christmas Show is a one-night benefit concert at the El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood on Friday, December 5th.  It is the 10th annual holiday concert for Hope The Mission, which serves beds, meals, and other essential services for those struggling with homelessness in the San Fernando Valley and the greater LA area.  A single night performance by well-known Broadway performers singing holiday songs, the event is impressive in how much generosity and charity giving it inspires in live real time.

A festive holiday atmosphere pervades the heavily decorated, historic El Portal Theater.  The holiday songs range from the irreverent and deeply silly to the soulful, spiritual and heartfelt.

Standout moments include “Lonely Jew”  by a brilliant Rena Strober, which made the entire evening for me.  This hilarious and wildly irreverent ode to the holiday season includes Strober belting “Oy Vey Maria” and pulling missing Hanukkah candles out of her lady bits to add to her menorah.  I could happily watch this on loop through the rest of December.

Other highlights include a frenetic Turkey Lurkey Time performed by Jason Michael Snow and the ensemble of dancers, a bravura, pull-out-the-stops number of exuberant silliness from the 1968 Broadway musical Promises, Promises - "And if you know what that is,” Snow intones, “Congratulations, you’re gay!”

The Big Fat Christmas Show can suffer from the hey-kids-let-put-on-a-show syndrome of actors creating their own lineup in lieu of a show.  There are several awkward smorgasbord moments (“so we found out our yoga teacher can sing….here she is guys!”).  I could not find a credited scenic designer, and the show could use a more crafted, deliberate stage composition and aesthetic.   At times The Big Fat Christmas Show feels under-directed and under-produced.  It could use some trimming, with some lackluster acts who seem like they resent singing for charity when they could be at home bingeing Netflix.

The dance troupe is delightful and high energy, and with more rehearsing and polishing, I would love to see them used more extensively in the show, with dynamic, winning choreography by Michelle Elkin.

Los Angeles Awards - Live Stats

Best Musical - Top 3

1. JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR (Hollywood Bowl)

9.2% of votes

2. HAIR (Conundrum Theatre)

5.1% of votes

3. HEATHERS (Backyard Playhouse: Treetop Production)

5% of votes

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