Bwog staff writer Sahmaya Busby attended XMAS!16 on Monday, December 13 at 7 pm at the Glicker-Milstein Theatre to watch Kevin McAllister be arrested for his heinous crimes of…torturing his house-sitters?

I stepped into the freezing cold air on Monday night around 6:10 pm, rushing to attend the 16th XMAS! show. The show was set to start at 6:30, but I didn’t know what XMAS entailed, other than that it was a holiday-based sketch comedy show done annually. Honestly, I didn’t want to know more about it in order to see how much the actors could pleasantly surprise me. And that, the XMAS!16 cast and crew members did. 

The show, directed by Eliza Staples and Jackie Balestrieri, included several skits based around a marriage whose troubles are exacerbated by holiday stress with features from popular holiday movies and late-night show hosts. I entered the black box theatre room about 30 minutes past the expected time because of some last-minute changes not knowing how I should act. I took my seat directly in the middle of the seats looking directly at the set…until a familiar friend asked if I wanted to sit with her. I did, so I sat in the row in front and waited for the lights to rise. 

The show commenced with a beautifully harmonized prologue called “Holiday Eve” that needed a little improv from the actors to begin as we waited for the starting notes of the song. After the quartet got started, however, it was a wonderful opening to a warm, hilarious show. The show then moved into the conflict–a troubled Vermont couple, Jack (Malcolm Toleno, CC ‘23) and Sam (Emily McKiernan, BC ‘23)  lament about how their expectations of marriage during the holidays were deluded by our favorite channel in “Hallmark Lies.” Although I would expect a couple who have been together for so long with grown children to have an idea of how their marriage should work during the holidays, it was still a very impactful and endearing song. As Jack and Sam cozied up to watch some holiday TV after a tense discussion, we got a glimpse of the world through their eyes in the next scenes. 

In the next scene, Jimmy Fallon (Jacob Kimbarow, GS ‘24) hosts the Grinch and Cindy Lou Who at the Tonight Show where they debut their new pop holiday tune, “Do You Hear What Horton Hears?” Jackie Chu, BC ‘22 dazzled with a convincing impression of the Grinch while Olivia Cull, BC ‘24 partnered to give the primetime performance. As the channel flips, we see an episode of “Judge Jingle” where our favorite Home Alone character, Kevin, stands trial for his alleged crimes against the house-sitter burglars, Harry and Marv. In a shocking twist of events, Kevin is found guilty as a sadistic monster who terrorized the house-sitter burglars. 

After this flip through channels, the conflict between the main characters rose until Jack storms out of the home, leaving Sam home. The show continues with more intermediate flicks, such as the Richardson Sisters in a seductive performance about Santa at the Hugh Humbug show and a comical skit about “Weissman” subs–three men who appear to deliver subs to the parents of a newborn baby– as Jack sits at a bar in town. At this bar, Jack realizes that he has to apologize to his wife as Sam dreams of a ballet number where the couple reconciles. Julia Van Riel, CC ‘22, wore a nutcracker-esque costume as she displayed her ballet skills. Malcolm Toleno and Emily McKiernan also delivered ballet performances alongside, though their dances comically varied in terms of skill. Eventually, this dream comes true, and the show ends with a heartwarming epilogue, “Something Special.” 

Overall, I was fairly impressed by the quality of acting, singing, and general performance in the show. The writers Gigi Russo, BC ‘22, and Adam Kluge, CC ‘22 included several clever jokes in the dialogue that I was able to appreciate even when some took a while to land in such a quick-paced piece. The lyrics and music were absolutely impeccable, and the parodies of popular holiday songs and original songs of XMAS!16 stood out as one of the best features of the sketch show. I was impressed with the lyricism and composition of Abby Rooney, CC ‘22, and Evan Smolin, CC ‘23, and how well the two aspects complemented each other for a comical show of its kind. 

The versatile actors were also an exciting feature. From playing burglars to infomercial hosts and new parents, the cast was able to deliver lines smoothly and act with such distinction between each character. The main leads delivered a believable story of a strained relationship while being at least 25 years younger than their characters’ ages. The small ensemble cast altogether pulled off a great show, especially while fulfilling other acting roles and also acting as the shift crew. The set was a simplistic but sufficient arrangement, with usual things like a couch and TV representing a home and a few chairs representing a bar or a late-night show set. The context was usually also given simply by the actors’ also-simple costumes to indicate who and where they were. The Grinch, however, had a full costume, a mask and spindly fingers included. As for the other technical elements of the show, the lighting design was simple overall for basic scenes but included a projector that allowed the audience to experience Jack and Sam flipping through channels and landing on a show. The audio was sufficient for the small show, but there were a few late cues–however, they did not take away from the show as a whole. 

While there were a few blunders–mostly a few late lighting and sound cues, and starting about 30 minutes later than originally intended–it was an enjoyable performance to send me off into a week of hellish finals. XMAS! did a wonderful job at encapsulating the joyful energy that can be felt watching any holiday rom-com or Hallmark movie, even with masked actors who weren’t able to show as much emotion or give comical facial expressions. I haven’t been able to watch holiday movies, look at lights, or participate in many enjoyable December holiday traditions, but XMAS! fulfilled the gap of cheesy holiday content that I have been missing. The skits were also comical and included one-liners that fell into a general sense of humor for myself and other college students. Even now, I think about the ridiculous “Weissman” sub delivery after the birth of a new baby and praise the creativity of the writers and cast members. 

If XMAS!16 was an indicator of what XMAS shows will continue to be like in the future, I highly encourage everyone to see the performance next year.

XMAS16! Stars via XMAS! Facebook