Theater Wit Presents THE SANTALAND DIARIES 11/25-12/31

Theater Wit's annual holiday classic The Santaland Diaries, based on David Sedaris's true, hilarious holiday tale, returns for its eighth consecutive outing in 2011 featuring a newly-enhanced set and once again starring Mitchell Fain who always plays to rave reviews and sold out houses.

Sedaris' beloved account of his stint as an elf at Macy's during the holiday season has been called the "24 funniest pages ever written in the English language." Don't miss Theater Wit's annual antidote to traditional shows of the season - a must-see celebration of the desperation of unemployment, the insanity of Christmas shopping and the ineffable "cheer" of the holiday spirit.

Adapted for the stage by Joe Mantello, and directed by Theater Wit Artistic Director Jeremy Wechsler, Chicago's only production of The Santaland Diaries returns November 25 through December 31, 2011 at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Avenue, Chicago. Press opening is Friday, November 25, 7 pm. Regular Performances are Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., and Sunday at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Check Theater Wit's website or call the box offIce To learn about possible additional holiday week performances, including an added show Wednesday, December 21 at 7:30 pm. Note: Theater Wit will host a special Jewish Christmas Eve performance with a Chinese dinner buffet on Saturday, December 24 at 7 p.m. (only). There are no performances December 25 (Christmas) or January 1 (New Years Day). Tickets are $18-$55, and are on sale now. For tickets and information, call the Theater Wit box office, 773.975.8150, or visit TheaterWit.org.

The Santaland Diaries made Sedaris an overnight sensation when he first read his autobiographical essay on National Public Radio's Morning Edition on December 23, 1992. Nearly 20 years later, who doesn't know and love Sedaris' unconventional, uproariously funny story of being a struggling young writer in New York who reluctantly takes a seasonal job as an elf at Macy's and struggles to maintain his dignity? As Christmas Day draws nearer, David grows increasingly weary and bitter as he is forced to deal with the humiliations of elf training, obnoxious customers, and badly cast Santas. Will "Crumpet" find the Christmas spirit before it's too late? Probably not.

The ideal holiday tradition for people who don't believe in holiday traditions, Theater Wit's The Santaland Diaries has been hailed "a martini-flavored antidote to Christmas cheer" by Time Out Chicago, "80 minutes of legit laughs" by the Chicago Sun-Times and "Absolutely hilarious. #1 Show to See Now" by New City. Gay Chicago praised Fain's "drop dead comic delivery," while the Chicago Tribune called him "a natural raconteur in a production that feels fresh with just the right sensibility."

Theater Wit's The Santaland Diaries: Behind the Scenes

Master satirist David Sedaris is the author of Barrel Fever and Holidays on Ice, as well as collections of personal essays, Naked, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, and When You Are Engulfed in Flames, each of which became a bestseller. There are seven million copies of his books in print and they have been translated into 25 languages. He was the editor of Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules: An Anthology of Outstanding Stories. Sedaris's pieces appear regularly in The New Yorker and have twice been included in "The Best American Essays." His newest book, a collection of fables entitled Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary (with illustrations by Ian Falconer), was published in September 2010 and immediately hit the NYT Bestseller Fiction List. He and his sister, Amy Sedaris, have collaborated under the name "The Talent Family" and have written plays produced at La Mama, 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, Incident at Cobbler's Knob and The Book of Liz, which was published by Dramatists Play Service. Sedaris's original radio pieces can be heard on This American Life, distributed nationally by Public Radio International and produced by WBEZ. Sedaris has been nominated for three Grammy Awards for Best Spoken Word and Best Comedy Album. His most recent live album is David Sedaris: Live For Your Listening Pleasure (November 2009).

Mitchell J. Fain (Elf) is happy to be back in stripey tights at Theater Wit for his fifth year as Crumpet. Most recently at Theater Wit he earned critical accolades in the Chicago premiere of Melissa James Gibson's This. Other recent credits include Lookingglass Theater's Lookingglass Alice and Second City Theatrical's It Takes a 'Ville both at The Actors Theatre of Louisville and also on The NCL STAR as part of a Second City touring company performing improv/sketch comedy. Other credits include Stilettos, Circus and Soul: The Musical, Hamlet: The Musical, Henry VI, Hamlet, Comedy of Errors, A Midsummer Night's Dream, As Bees in Honey Drown, Bitches, Hayfever, The Mystery of Edwin Drood and The Lynching of Leo Frank. Television credits include What About Joan?, Early Edition and The Beast. Fain is an Artistic Associate of Chicago's The Midnight Circus and a co-host of The Windy City Queercast. He received his degree in English at the University of Rhode Island.

Jeremy Wechsler (director) is the artistic director of Theater Wit where he has directed This (Melissa James Gibson), The Four of Us (Itamar Moses), Spin (Penny Penniston), Feydeau-Si-Deau (Georges Feydeau), Men of Steel (Qui Nguyen), Thom Pain (Based on Nothing) (Will Eno), Two for the Show (James Fitzpatrick and Will Clinger) and The Santaland Diaries. He has directed over 40 shows in the last 15 years at various theatres, including: A Taste of Honey (Shelagh Delaney), The Play About the Squirrel (Mia McCullough), The White Devil (John Webster), The Real Thing (Tom Stoppard), Szinhaz (Itamar Moses), The Duchess of Malfi (John Webster), Titus Andronicus (Shakespeare), The Roaring Girl (Thomas Middleton), Flight (Mikhail Bulgakov), The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told (Paul Rudnick), This is the Rill Speaking (Lanford Wilson), Hay Fever (Noel Coward) Now Then Again (Penny Penniston), A Month in the Country (Brian Friel), Europe (David Grieg), Henry VI: Blood of a Nation (Shakespeare), The Promise (Jose Rivera), Un Robot (Laura Jacqmin), The Coarse Acting Show (Michael Green) Life is a Dream (Calderon), The Prisoner's Dilemma (David Edgar), Cabaret (Kander/Ebb) and The Threepenny Opera (Brecht). Wechsler's productions have been nominated for and won multiple awards for design, performance, adaptation and best new work. He has taught at several universities, is an artistic associate at Collaboraction and currently serves on the board of the League of Chicago Theatres.

Designers for The Santaland Diaries are Joey Wade, set; Mara Blumenfeld, costumes; and Joe Fosco, sound.

More About Theater Wit's 2011-2012 Season

Following The Santaland Diaries, Theater Wit's 2011-2012 season continues January 23-March 31, 2012 with the Chicago premiere of Jason Wells' The North Plan, a Quentin Tarentino-meets-All the President's Men apocalyptic drama hailed in 2010 as "the most promising and provocative of the stimulating, three-play First Look Repertory of New Work at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company" by the Chicago Tribune and helmed by acclaimed director Kimberly Senior. Completing the Wit's season is the Chicago premiere of Kim Rosenstock's Tiger's Be Still, a savagely funny dark comedy about a young woman who stops being a total disaster and gets her life back on track, directed by Jeremy Wechsler, April 24-May 27, 2012.

In addition to presenting its own three play season in 2011-2012, Theater Wit is completely booked through June 2012 with an incredibly eclectic slate of new plays and musicals by Chicago's most popular and accomplished off-Loop theater companies. Resident companies presenting their full seasons at Theater Wit in 2011-2012 are Bohemian Theatre Ensemble, New Millennium Theatre Company and Stage Left Theatre. Visiting companies this season include BONEdance, Griffin Theatre, Porchlight Music Theatre, Route 66 Theatre Company, Salomee Speelt, Sideshow Theatre, Strange Tree Theatre Group and TimeLine Theatre Company.

To encourage cross-pollination among Theater Wit productions and those presented by its resident and visiting companies, Theater Wit has introduced Chicago's first Netflix-like membership program at a live theater multiplex. With a Theater Wit Membership, you can see as many plays as you want at Theater Wit, year round, for one low monthly fee of $36 ($30 for students). Using your unique member ID, you can reserve a seat at any production in the facility, either in advance or just drop by on impulse. Attend as many different shows as you want each month. Come once, twice or five times a week at no additional charge. Come back to the same production for free as many times as you wish, based on day of availability. And get this: members of Theater Wit are also welcome to bring a friend twice a season for free.

In addition to its new "all the theater you can eat" Membership Program, Theater Wit also offers a Flex Pass to similarly encourage cross pollination between its own productions, and those presented by its resident and guest companies. A Theater Wit Flex Pass offers 10 admissions for $200 to literally anything presented in the building, a savings of up to 40%.
To purchase a Membership Program, Flex Pass, single tickets or for information about all 2011-2012 productions at Theater Wit, call 773.975.8150 or visit TheaterWit.org.

About Theater Wit

"A thrilling addition to Chicago's roster of theaters" (Chicago Tribune) and "a terrific place to see a show" (New City), the new Theater Wit is entering its second season in its newly renovated home at 1229 W. Belmont Avenue in Chicago.

Theater Wit inaugurated its brand new, $1.3 million venue in the former home of the Bailiwick Arts Centre in June 2010. The new Theater Wit boasts three intimate 99-seat performance spaces - the only theater in Chicago with such a configuration - plus a new box office, administrative offices, a beer, wine, spirits and coffee bar, and a cool, casual lobby.

Founded in 2004, Theater Wit's mission is to explore contemporary issues with wit and wisdom through new works and Chicago premieres. For complete information, visit TheaterWit.org.

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