The Queen Street Playhouse, home of the Footlight Players, will present four holiday shows this year: a family-friendly musical, a raunchy adults-only play and two holiday-themed speakeasy shows from Charleston musical artists.
Playing from Dec. 8 to Dec. 22, A Very Merry Footlight Holiday Special is an annual show, written and directed by the actors involved. Each year’s production is different, with this year’s show focusing on Mrs. Claus as she prepares for her annual Snow Ball event. Expect to see fictional legendary figures like the Tooth Fairy, Jack Frost and Mother Nature, plus a live band.
If all that sounds like it’s a little too nice for you, there’s also the naughty one-woman show, Who’s Holiday, which follows a grown-up version of Cindy Lou Who (played by Giulia Dalbec). No longer the adorable child from Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Cindy is now a chain-smoking 40 year old living in a trailer on Mount Crumpet. Many years have passed since Cindy caught the Grinch in her living room, and she’s holding nothing back.
Artistic director Kyle Barnette said Who’s Holiday, which plays Dec. 9 through Dec. 22, is a treat for the fans who followed Barnette and executive director Brian Porter from the theater company they founded together, What If? Productions, which served the Charleston theater community from 2010 to 2020.
Barnette said, “Who’s Holiday definitely has a What If? vibe, which is something we strived to do when taking over Footlight — to bring that daring, more whimsical element to Footlight.”
And don’t miss the Footlight Players as they recreate a cabaret nightlife vibe in the Queen Street Playhouse lobby during the Sunday Night Speakeasy Series. On Nov. 26, Charleston musical artist and producer Tonya Nicole presents A Holiday Happening, featuring Nicole’s vocals accompanied by a two-piece band — Jonathan Lovett on piano and Tim Khayat on bass. Expect holiday classics including fun, sultry, jazz and soul renditions of various songs from Ella Fitzgerald, Bette Milder, Eartha Kitt and Anita Baker.
On Dec. 19, the playhouse welcomes Manny Houston with his cabaret during A Very Manny Christmas: An Intimate Evening of Yuletide Melodies. Houston will play piano, sing holiday tunes and lead a sing-a-long.
Barnette said, “It really gives you that exclusive feeling of being in a little cabaret space maybe in the Upper West Side or in the Village in New York City with people peering in the windows to get a glimpse of what they hear and see going on inside.”
To learn more and purchase tickets, visit footlightplayers.net.
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