Review: A VERY QUEER HOLIDAY: CHISMUKKUH IN JULY! at 54 Below Is Silliness With An Important Mission

There was absolutely every reason to be confused about A VERY QUEER HOLIDAY: CHRISMUKKAH IN JULY! when it was announced on the 54 Below website a few weeks ago. A holiday show in the summertime is a pretty odd proposition, and a Christmas-slash-Chanukah show at that, and two K's in Chrismukkah, when Chanukah is spelled with only one K might be the most confusing thing of all... and STILL, this writer could not stay away from this concert. And it's not because I am one of those people who love the December holidays, because (speaking personally) I don't. I don't, in fact, care for the December holiday season, although I do have a strange, unexplainable, fascination with holiday movies and that is why this interesting little concert show was planned, and why it was planned for the month of July.

Marie Incontrera, Megan A Zebrowski, and Dianne Gebauer have created a holiday rom-com, just like the ones with which we are all obsessed. It is their ambition to shoot this film, titled A VERY QUEER HOLIDAY, in the fall of 2022, and they are in the process of fundraising. The film is being touted as the very first holiday rom-com featuring transgender and nonbinary romantic leads, and let's all be honest: we need that. The trans/nonbinary community needs and deserves representation and the world needs chances to change, and the only way that change happens is when the population at large sees representation that opens their eyes, their minds, and their hearts. What better opportunity, what better way to affect change than a holiday rom-com? Right? So Incontrera, Zebrowski, and Gebauer spent the quarantine/pandemic writing one. The movie is multi-faith, the cast and characters are all queer, and the mission of this concert was a simple one: raise awareness and raise money. And since filming is proposed for fall, the fundraising had to happen now: hence the holiday show in the middle of summer.

And do you know what? It worked.

There was something kind of comforting about hearing Adam B. Shapiro's "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" in Yiddish, and listening to Ianne Fields Stewart sing "Santa Baby" and "This Christmas" while dressed in your coolest summertime clothing made it feel like it wasn't quite so sweltering outside. Looking at Santa Hats and reindeer onesies, and listening to holiday music was kind of sweet and relaxing, and conjured visions, not of sugarplums, but of family and togetherness, and good will. Good will, good will, good will is what it is all about, and good will is what flowed in and around the tables of 54 Below last night. And that's wonderful. As cabaret shows go, the program was a little bit like the last night of summer at a Catskills lodge, when the guests put on the end of the season talent show. The actors had skills, though at varying degrees that were plainly visible. There was an element of being under-rehearsed, particularly with so many singers reading their words off of music stands - and even though this writer hates (HATES) when performers do that, all the good will made it seem ok (though, it has to be said, there is a craft to cheat-sheeting that more experienced performers can carry off - inexperienced singers are better off simply learning their lyrics). And there was no arc or storyline to the evening, not even in the concert vein: it was a little haphazard, albeit cute and lovable. But, like the thing with the music stands and the varying skill sets of the actors, it was ok. It was ok because it was charming, and because it was (and is) valuable.

What the creators of this concert and of the movie A Very Queer Holiday are doing is vastly important. We need trans/nonbinary representation in our films and television shows, and not just in filmmaking that leans into being a crusade - we need films where the fact that the characters are trans/nonbinary is incidental to the storyline. When we present the stories of these members of our society, and that element which is most uniquely them is simply a fact, rather than a focal point, it helps to normalize our trans/nonbinary siblings and citizens so that they can be understood and appreciated for who they are as people, just people, only people; people who deserve to be loved for who they are - for being a nerd, or an athlete, or an actor, or a parent, and not just a trans nerd, or a nonbinary athlete, or a queer actor, or a fluid parent. Society needs these movies and TV shows with these transgender and nonbinary characters and actors, and so do the cabaret stages of the world. That disparity in skillset previously mentioned? It exists because the beautiful up-and-coming trans/nonbinary talents working in cabaret and concert aren't getting the on-the-job training that the other artists in cabaret and concert are getting. They aren't getting the experience because they aren't being invited to perform in group shows. Many people want to perform in cabaret and concert, but just jumping into the industry with a solo show is difficult and expensive, and not everyone wants to go out onto that limb, so artists get into group shows where they can do one number, maybe two, and where they can sing in a big group finale, and then go home with a little more experience than they had before the curtain went up on that group show. If our trans/nonbinary artists are not invited to participate in those group shows, the only place they will accrue their stage experience is in group shows like this one, a niche cabaret concert employing a cast of queer people, and with an audience made up of friends and family. That's lovely, but it's not enough.

One of the nicest things about A VERY QUEER HOLIDAY: CHRISMUKKAH IN JULY! was getting to see new artists like Carmen Castillo, Drewe Goldstein, and Sammie James work in a show with veterans like Adam B. Shapiro, Lillian Andrea de Leon, and Lexi Lawson. Castillo was an absolute delight (and in great voice) performing "Chrismukkah in July" and Goldstein was enchanting, working alongside de Leon, who watched over the younger Goldstein like a protective older sibling, all smiles and pride. And Sammie James, the stand-up comedienne for the evening, is clearly new on the stand-up scene and she is good - so good that this writer was sorry to see her set end just as she was getting warmed up; it would be nice to see an entire Sammie James set. James, Goldstein, and Castillo are lovely new performers to the cabaret scene who deserve more stage time and more experience: hopefully, the producers and casting creatives will take note and invite the rising artists to their various playgrounds and stages, where they can grow and flourish. That is, after all, how we have all come to know and love Kathel Griffin.

Griffin, who has appeared in a number of group shows, provided last night's audience with one of the highlights, a savvy performance of "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?" that sets Griffin up for a solo show of their own. Kat, who is always wonderful, shone particularly bright last night, showing off a unique and beautiful voice and some authentic song-styling skills. A Kat Griffin show is in the air, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Also landing on the adorable side of things were HJ Farr, who was perfect, performing two different original compositions from the movie, and JJ Maley, a producer on Strange Loop with a confident onstage presence and a fantastic voice. Both artists were a pleasure to watch, but, then, so was everyone else in the show, particularly uber-charming and funny AF host John Lehr (who should be part of the storytelling community, and no mistake), as well as sisters Lexi Lawson and Melodi Lawson singing dulcet, delectable harmonies from their holiday movie "On This Christmas" - it was a very special (and audibly gorgeous) moment, especially when the sisters confessed it was their first time ever singing together, with Daddy Lawson sitting in the audience. It was a family night, not just for the Lawsons, but for the entire room at 54 Below, whether members of the cast of the show, the cast of the proposed movie, or the audience, and not just because of the holiday-full nature of the evening, but because of the humanity that comes into play when people gather together to create art, to foster inclusivity, to enjoy companionship, or any combination thereof. And that's what Christmukkah is about, whatever the time of year in which it is celebrated.

The Film A VERY QUEER HOLIDAY has a fundraising Gofundme page HERE.

Marie Incontrera is available to talk investing and co-producing at marie.incontrera@gmail.com

There are great shows to be seen at 54 Below: check them out HERE.

Note from the author/editor: Although there was no place in this article, organically, to mention them Mackenzie Meyh, Zachary A. Myers, and Andre Stith made wonderful appearances in this concert.

The A Very Queer Holiday Musical Director was Anessa Marie

Photos by Stephen Mosher

Visit the Stephen Mosher website HERE.

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