Syracuse Stage's THE SANTALAND DIARIES Begins Tonight

Back by popular demand: David Sedaris' perfect antidote to holiday madness. For those who like a little jeer with their Christmas cheer, The Santaland Diaries offers Crumpet, a 33-year-old starving artist turned Macy's elf. It's the most wonderful time of the year, but who would know it from the bad Santas, naughty elves, cranky kids, and pushy parents who test Crumpet's last elfin nerve. With sardonic wit, Sedaris takes us all playfully to task for plunging into the Christmas spirit while missing the point. This is for mature elves only.

The Santaland Diaries performs tonight, December 9- January 3, 2016 in the Storch Theatre at the Syracuse Stage/Drama Complex, 820 East Genesee Street. The opening night performance is Friday, December 11 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets and information are available at www.syracusestage.org, by phone at 315-443-3275, and in person at the Syracuse Stage Box Office (Mon-Fri, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and two hours before the show). Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more at 315-443-9844. Discounts are also available for seniors, students, and U.S military personnel and veterans. Sign interpretation, open captioning, and audio description services are available for select performances.

In 2008 Syracuse Stage presented The Santaland Diaries as a stage adaptation by Tony Award-winning director Joe Mantello. Director Wendy Knox and Wade McCollum as Crumpet the Macy's elf return for a repeat engagement, bringing back the familiar skewered holiday humor that made the initial production so popular.

"Sedaris sees an everyday event and spins it into words in a way that is so delightful. He can pick up a detail and assign it a meaning and it just becomes so funny," said Knox.

Considered a "master of satire," Sedaris writes The Santaland Diaries with sarcastic humor and cultural commentary, but with clear intent to illuminate how in the rush of the holiday season we overlook what is truly important.

Sedaris is the ward-winning author of nine books of essays. His plays have been produced at La Mama Experimental Theatre Club, Lincoln Center, and The Drama Department in New York City. These plays include, Stump the Host, Stitches, One Woman Shoe, which received an Obie Award, and The Book of Liz, published by the Dramatists Play Service. He was also nominated for Best Spoken Word and Best Comedy Album for his original radio pieces on This American Life. In 2001, Sedaris became the third recipient of the Thurber Prize for American Humor, and was named Time magazine's humorist of the year.

The hilarity of The Santaland Diaries has made it a holiday favorite since Sedaris' first script reading, hosted on NPR's Morning Edition in 1992. Knox noted that it has become so popular because of the show's welcome comedic relief in a season overrun with distraught parents, crying children, and materialistic consumerism.

Wendy Knox has directed over 40 productions, including Mother Courage, The Taming of the Shrew, and Lysistrata at the Guthrie Lab. In 2007, Minneapolis City Pages named her best director, and she also became the recipient of two McKnight Theatre Artist Fellowships (recognizing outstanding work by professional theatre artists). She holds an M.F.A in Directing from The University of Washington in Seattle, and a B.A. from Grinnell College.

Joe Mantello is a Broadway veteran whose directing credits include, The Odd Couple, Wicked at the Gershwin Theatre in New York City, and the Tony Award-winning production Take Me Out. Mantello is the recipient of Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, and Obie and Joe A. Callaway Awards. He is a member of Naked Angels and an associate artist at the Roundabout Theatre Company.

Wade McCollum has appeared on Broadway in Wicked, been seen opposite Clive Owen in the Cinemax series The Knick, been a series regular on the wildly popular Broadway sitcom/web-series Submissions Only, originated the role of the Velociraptor of Faith in the off-Broadway show Triassic Parq (cast album on iTunes), starred in the first national tour of Priscilla Queen Of The Desert as Tick/Mitzi, played the Emcee in Cabaret at Dallas Theatre Center (DFW critics circle award best actor) the Narrator in the world premiere of Fly By Night at Theatreworks Palo Alto, Prior in Angels In America and Peter/Craig in Dying City at Portland Playhouse, and bit people as Dracula in Steven Dietz's Dracula at GEVA/IRT. Wade just closed the Boston run of Ernest Shackleton Loves Me playing Ernest Shackleton, which will head to NYC early next year. Wade also just finished a writer's residency at the Alchemy Theatre in Los Angeles developing his original musical The Other Shore about Hermann Hesse writing his famous novel Siddhartha.

The Santaland Dairies creative team includes scenic and costume designer Jessica Ford, lighting designer Cory Pattak, sound designer Sarah Pickett, and stage manager Laura Jane Collins

The Santaland Diaries media sponsor is WEAR 88.3 and the season sponsor is Syracuse Media Group.

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