Review: A NICE FAMILY CHRISTMAS at GROUP rep

A Nice Family Christmas/by Phil Olson/directed by Doug Engalla/GROUP rep, NoHo/through December 18

The annual dysfunctional family Christmas gathering? Oy! This family lives in Minnesota. Double oy!! Issue at hand: not one of the family members is anywhere near to being happy. Mom (Belinda Howell) is in denial, keeping her breast cancer a secret, her doctor son Michael (Patrick Burke) has been mysteriously separated from wife Jill (Rebekah Dunn) for three months, other son Carl (Greg D. Barnett), a struggling writer, is estranged from his girlfriend Rita, and daughter Stacey (Truett Jean Butler) is gay and separated from her partner, who hasn't yet told her parents about their relationship. Then there's obnoxious intruder Uncle Bob (Fox Carney) who does his best to upset everyone with his disgustingly uber jovial disposition, and Grandma (Marcia Rodd), with a tongue that could cut glass, who sashays around them all with digs, jibes and a whole barrel of insulting fun. Doug Engalla has skillfully directed a superb cast of players who only have to speak Phil Olson's hysterically funny lines to get laughs. It's a howler a la Neil Simon with a laugh about every two seconds, and each character has that dry infectious Minnesota accent that makes you double over every time you hear it.

Olson is famous for his Don't Hug Me musicals also set in Minnesota. They introduce a bevy of redneck characters who love/hate one another but keep coming back for more; they just can't help themselves. A Nice Family Christmas, although not a musical, follows the same raucous vein as Don't Hug Me, and we can't wait for the next insulting put.down or depressing calamity. It's one big soap opera that everyone can relate to. Who doesn't have a meddling grandma, who shoves her wisdom down your throat whether you like it or not? Who doesn't have an Uncle Bob who stands out as the weakest link, the relative you least want to be like? You do not want to spend a moment with them, let alone an entire holiday, but it's that...or spend it alone. Better an image crushing critique than nothing at all.

Under Doug Engalla's smooth hand, the ensemble inhabit their characters with gusto. Marica Rodd, guesting with Group rep, steals the show as grandma. She has more zingers than any other cast member and throws them out with style and pananche, pro that she is. She also manages to create a real human being, very flawed but quite lovable. Barnett and Burke play the two brothers with just the right amount of friction and indifference toward one another. Butler as Stacey, the one sibling who is radically different, yet still seems to have it more together, makes the sister reflective and somewhat happily in control, much like Howell as Mom, who stays on keel and only wants happiness for those around her. Both actresses display strength and a sense of dignity that is wholesome. Dunn has some hilarious moments as Jill, whining and crying away the time until she gets what she wants, and Carney as Uncle Bob is another scene stealer. He sets his voracious appetite on conquering Mom and goes for it.

Olson not only gets beaucoup laughs but also has some pretty keen observations on the way it is in family living. As he speaks of the father, who has passed and not there to defend himself, he is not concerned about holding back his feelings: "the man who loved his wife so much, he almost told her", and one of my favorite lines, about marriage, "When you marry someone, you establish a motive for murder". Of course, grandma has past remembrances - delusions of grandeur maybe - of being on the Titanic or having been wooed by some monarch or prince. Lies, lies, lies, but what's wisdom, after all, if it isn't peppered with fantasy? And her jokes about the existence of homosexuals in the past are deliciously on target: "They were manly men...who liked...other manly men!"

Chris Winfield has designed a simple functioning living room set replete with an overabundance of Christmas decorations, and the uncredited costumes feature gaudily bright and festive holiday wear.

Go see A Nice Family Christmas! It's a very entertaining evening of fun and merriment where you do not have to think for a split second, just enjoy.

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