Tag: holiday

The Chaos of the Bells The Funniest Show Yet at The Brave New Workshop!

Brave New Workshop’s annual Christmas show this year is called The Chaos of the Bells, and this might just be their best one yet. The show is wonderfully irreverent and hilariously funny, poking fun at everything from Hallmark Channel Christmas movies and Santa Claus to OnlyFans and classic Christmas songs. I won’t spoil the fun by revealing my favorite bits or giving away punchlines. What BNW delivers, what I always look forward to this time of year, is laughter, pure and simple. And honestly, in a year like 2025, when reflecting on the state of the world feels unusually heavy, distraction by way of comedy is exactly what I need.

Musical Director Jon Pumper seemed to play an even larger role this year. Either that, or there were simply more musical numbers than usual. In any case, he remains an invaluable part of the ensemble. For those unfamiliar with Brave New Workshop, it’s the longest-running comedy theater in the United States. Their holiday tradition features sketch comedy, punctuated with songs, and always concludes with their original twist on “The 12 Days of Christmas.”

Favorite sketches this year: two neighbors chatting in a garage in Fridley, a phone call to Santa Claus, “Kissing Cousins,” and a number from White Christmas. Okay, I have to stop there or I’ll end up listing every sketch of the night. There wasn’t a single miss—every piece landed. If only SNL were this consistent.

A show like this is only as good as its writers and performers, and this year the brilliant core four, Lauren Anderson (who has starred in more consecutive BNW shows than any performer in the theater’s history), Denzel Belin, Isabella Dunsieth, and Doug Neithercott, are joined by the inspired addition of Rita Boersma. Boersma, whom you’ll often see working with Mike Fotis of Strike Theater, blends seamlessly with the veteran cast. Her characters and her fearless commitment to going for the laugh are all-in. Her Fridley neighbor character was a standout. In one sketch, she made out with her “husband,” who was wearing a welding mask; based on Dunsieth’s reactions, I’m guessing Boersma added a little improvisational enthusiasm to the moment. It was an evening highlight.

The whole cast is fantastic, and the script is fresh and funny. I did catch one idea recycled from a previous Christmas show, but it was a highlight then too, so I was delighted to see it back.

This is the perfect outing for a holiday get-together with friends or now that the kids are too old for The Grinch and sick of A Christmas Carol, make this your family holiday tradition instead!

The Chaos of the Bells runs through January 17th.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit:
https://hennepinarts.org/events/the-chaos-of-the-bells-2025

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Santa’s Surprise Party is, No Surprise, Hilariously Fun at The Hive Collaborative in St. Paul

Santa’s Surprise Party is the party to attend this holiday season. This new show from The Mechanical Division, the brainchild of Ben Thietje and Amanda White formerly of DalekoArts, continues that Theater’s tradition of holiday fun. Directed by White who plays the voice of Jessica Claus and written by Thietje who appears in the cast as an elf named Sandwich. The show takes place at an assembly of the ELFS (Midwest Chapter). While waiting for the meeting to start Mrs. Clause joins the meeting through Microsoft Teams and reminds the Chapter that it’s Santa’s 250th birthday and so far none of the other Chapters has even said happy birthday to Santa. This Chapter is going to be the last meeting and it’s up to them to wish Santa a happy birthday and raise his spirits. Before they can begin to make plans, a human discovers them inside the building without permission. They must use elf magic to keep him from leaving and with his help they plan a surprise party for Santa.

I don’t want to give away the best bits or the surprises in store so I’m going to keep things vague. First off, if you enjoy Christmas at all and love a good laugh, you’ll want to snatch up tickets for the three remaining performances. If the show I was at tonight wasn’t sold out, there couldn’t have been more than one or two seats left. I’ve written before about a game we sometimes play on the drive home from a show called who was your favorite. When you can’t name who was your favorite, it’s either one of two things, no one is any good, or everyone is perfectly cast in their roles. This is the latter. Let’s start with Ben Thietje usually cast as the romantic lead due to his matinee idol looks, completely disappears into the role of Sandwich. He’s the nerdy, not dealing with a full deck, possibly a touch psychotic elf with slicked over hair and glasses with lenses as thick as coke bottles. He’s found the character and never breaks from it whether he’s pushing to burn the human or just in the background ritually touching a Christmas light. He hasn’t the fewest lines but makes the biggest impression. Siri Hellerman plays Bing Bong, the President of the Midwest Chapter of ELFS. She runs the meeting like a pro and knows exactly how to keep control of everyone, but is particularly adept at calming Sandwich down with a sip from a juice box. Hellerman handles such absurd moments so matter of factly that they become even funnier. Nora Sonneborn who really caught my attention earlier in the year in Lyric Arts Production of 9 to 5 proves that notice was well deserved, she has comedic chops and displays once again a really strong singing voice, which I’d like to have had even more of. Bradley Beahen who serves as the Music Director also plays Sprinkles. Beahen whom I’m used to seeing mainly as a Music Director is great in the role and his rendition of “Like a Virgin” but with festive lyrics is a blast. Finally, Patrick Kozicky plays Cole, the human who reluctantly helps them plan the party. Kozicky masterfully captures the human responses to the ridiculousness of the elfs. I loved watching him process the rules to the elf party games like Tinsel and Tickle and Elf or Dare.

Santa’s Surprise Party is everything it needs to be, it has holiday spirit, a touch of darkness, a ton of super silly elf nonsense, and even some great singing. It runs a quick 70 minutes with no intermission so there’s still plenty of time in your evening to get presents wrapped and nog some eggs. It runs through 12/21 at The Hive Collaborative in St. Paul, which if you haven’t been, you’re in for a treat. It’s just about the coziest little theater there is, bring some cash so you can make a donation and enjoy some snacks and beverages. Plus whether you need it or not, visit the furthest restroom, or perhaps I should say the Batroom. For more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.thehivecollaborativemn.com/events/santas-surprise-party

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