Naughty and Nice Holiday Concert 2024
Produced, directed, and hosted by Seth Tucker
Stagebrush Theatre, Scottsdale, AZ, December 23, 2024
Reviewed by Lynn Timmons Edwards
Seth Tucker, an Arizona transplant who spent time as a working singer in NYC, is a resourceful producer of cabaret. He had a vision for a sequel to his 2019 cabaret Naughty and Nice with an expanded cast of characters as a fundraiser for One in Ten, a non-profit devoted to helping LGBTQ youth. One could follow him as he put it together on social media, announced his intention, put out a call for possible venues, cast it by inviting his talented friends, and called donors. With his husband and fellow cast member, Sime Kosta, he put up a $1,000 challenge grant and garnered ten $100 donors as a base and then he reached out to his audience to fill the seats.
Tucker has a history of “The Most Offensive Christmas Concerts Ever” dating back to 2016 in the now closed Listening Room Phoenix. The original Naughty and Nice took place in 2019 at Phoenix Theatre Company with co-star Toby Yatso and two back-up singers. . (See my review at Toby Yatso & Seth Tucker: Naughty & Nice Cabaret – Cabaret Scenes) For this edition, he incorporated about a half dozen songs from that show. Tucker encored the very naughty character, and played against the superbly talented Yatso as a kind Santa, but he added a short appearance by Satan, which was sung perfectly by Brach Drew. His numbers “Jack’s Obsession” (Danny Elfman from Nightmare Before Christmas) and “Christmas Time in Hell” (Marc Shaiman and Troy Parker) were highlights; they had the right amount of naughty without being gross or being used just for shock value.
I love a good full-circle cabaret with an up-tempo opening and an ending that brings the audience back around. Tucker chose Mr. Hankey’s Christmas Classics from South Park, Season 3. It debuted in the late 1990s, and there are many millennials and young fans of the series, which thrives on profanity, dark humor, and satire. “Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo” meant poop opened and closed the show, and the front row was anointed with a stage version of it like the ashes spread on Ash Wednesday. Brandi Bigley, as Mr. Hankey, also gave us a spirited “Swiss Colony Beef Log” and an original “Come Over for Christmas,” which included all the sexual innuendo the title implied.
The cast also included Emily Mohney as Mrs. Claus. She delivered as good a “Surabaya Santa” (Jason Robert Brown) as I could imagine; I just find the song to be a bore. Some may have been titillated by the nipple sighting of her revealing costume, and I was happy that she dropped the accent and made the song her own. She had a strong stage presence and was part of the trio with Bigley and Lauren Berman on “Try Not to Be a Cunt at Christmas” (Fascinating Aida). It was short and funny.
There were other talented cast members who seemed more like guests and fit less comfortably into the Naughty and Nice context. Andres Martinez accompanied himself on guitar on a profane “Fuck Her Gently.” Catherine Ricafort, dressed like a Disney princess, sang a parody of “Let it Go” (the original by Nick Mao, Kristen Anderson Lopez, and Robert Lopez), which was a joke about farting, and “Into the Unknown” (Kristen Anderson Lopez and Robert Lopez), which showed off her high belt voice but was a standalone piece.
Tucker incorporated three puppeteers (Kiley Bishop, Shannon Phelps and Jennie Rhiner), who needed to hold the puppets still when they were singing. They can also be seen with the popular local theater All Puppet Players. They performed “Kidnap Santy Claws” (Danny Elfman), which allowed Yatso some funny reactions and added to the overall mayhem of some of the group numbers. Loren John Battieste was also a solid addition to the chorus.
Tucker was clearly the star. He did a spot-on Elvis imitation and provided the most poignant moment of the night with “Laughing Matters” (Dick Gallagher and Mark Waldrop), a song that was written 30 years ago and was the perfect commentary on today. The best vocal performance came from Cassie Chilton and Sime Kosta with their straight-forward “Oh Holy Night”; in which their voices soared together. That led into a break in the show for raffle prizes and to remind the audience that 75% of the proceeds were being donated to One in Ten. Kosta also accompanied himself on “From God’s Perspective” (Bo Burnham); he is a super talent we do not see often enough on stage because he leads Sime and Seth Realty.
The cabaret was accompanied by pianist Tyler Bartlett, who did an excellent job keeping the tempo moving. Tucker produced a polished product that had a lot of naughty and a little nice after minimal rehearsal time. The mostly young audience was delighted to escape into his vision two days before Christmas, if only for an hour and 40 minutes. Bravo.
