Garret Storms to Reprise Role in THE SANTALAND DIARIES at WaterTower Theatre, 12/5-28

Garret Storms reprises his performance as David (Crumpet the Elf) in the WaterTower Theatre production of the David Sedaris holiday season comedy The Santaland Diaries, December 5 to 28, 2014, in the Studio Theatre at the Addison Theatre and Conference Centre. Kelsey Leigh Ervi returns to direct.

Ervi's creative team includes Jason Harris (Set Designer), Derek Whitener (Costume Designer), Kenneth Farnsworth (Lighting Designer) andHannah Law (Properties Designer).

The Santaland Diaries is based on a David Sedaris essay of the same name that appears in Sedaris' 1997 collection "Holidays on Ice." The popular play has been performed at WaterTower Theatre six times (2001-2005 and 2007, 2008 and last season).

Based on the true chronicles of David Sedaris' experience as Crumpet the Elf in Macy's Santaland display, this cult classic riffs on a few of Sedaris' truly odd encounters with his fellow man during the height of the holiday crunch. NPR humorist and best-selling author of When You Are Engulfed in Flames, Me Talk Pretty One Day and Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, David Sedaris has become one of America's pre-eminent humor writers, and this production has almost become an Addison holiday tradition.

Performance Schedule: Friday, December 5 - Sunday, December 28, 2014. Opening Night: Friday, December 5 at 8 p.m. Performances: Dec. 5, 6, 12, 13, 19, 20, 26, 27 at 8 pm; Dec. 10, 11, 17, 18, 23 at 7:30 pm; Dec. 7, 13, 14, 20, 21 and 28 at 2p m. No performance on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Ticket Prices: Single Tickets: $22 (Wed., Thurs., & Sat. matinees) - $27.50 (Fri., Sat. evenings, & Sun.). For tickets, go to www.watertowertheatre.org or 972-450-6232 or in person at WaterTower Theatre Box Office (Tuesday - Friday, noon to 6 p.m.) Addison Theatre Centre, 15650 Addison Road, Addison, Texas 75001.

Garret Storms (David, Crumpet the Elf) - Garret Storms performed in The Santaland Diaries last season at WaterTower Theatre. He also co-starred in the highly acclaimedWaterTower Theatre production of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Garret has worked extensively in regional theatres across the country including many appearances at Stage West including as Leo in 4000 Miles, Gabriel in Gabriel, Nicholas Beckett in What the Butler Saw and Spinoza in New Jerusalem. Around the country his credits include Greg Wilhote in Hands on a Hardbody (Theatre Three), Valère in Tartuffe(Shakespeare Dallas), Agamemnon/Thersites in Troilus and Cressida (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art), Leo Irving in In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play, Peter Powerbutton in Panto Sleeping Beauty, Dandini in Panto Cinderella, Howie in Speech and Debate (all Stages Repertory Theatre), Hamlet in Hamlet (Sam Houston State), Simon Zealotes in Jesus Christ Superstar (Fort Worth Theatre), Lumiere in Beauty and the Beast (Artisan Center Theatre). Garrett holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from Sam Houston State University.

Kelsey Leigh Ervi (Director) - Kelsey Leigh Ervi made her directing debut at WaterTower Theatre with last season's production of The Santaland Diaries. Since then, she has directed Honky and The Tom Sawyer Project. She was assistant director for WTT's recent productions of Bonnie & Clyde (she also served as Props Coordinator), Dogfight, Good People,The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The Grapes of Wrath, The Ugly One and August: Osage County. She also sound designed the Studio production of Full Gallop. Other regional credits include [sic], The Lucky Chance (Echo Theatre), A Taste of Beauty (The Rose Room), The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told (Uptown Players), Ask Questions Later (Rite of Passage Theatre Company), The Winter's Tale, Twelfth Night (Shakespeare Dallas), Dani Girl, Waking Up (Greyman Theatre Company) and Into the Woods (PFamily Arts). Kelsey is a company member with Echo Theatre. She holds a BFA in Theatre Performance from Baylor University and currently serves as Artistic and Marketing Associate for WaterTower Theatre.

David Sedaris (Creator) - David Sedaris was born in Binghamton, New York on December 26, 1956. He was raised in Raleigh, North Carolina with his sister Amy, a comedic actress and writer. According to his writings, a lisp led to a love of all "s-less" words and to parents worried about his orientation while he was young. Sedaris has written that this led to him having an incredible vocabulary. In 1977 he left both Kent State University and Duke University without a degree but finally earned one in 1987 from the Art Institute of Chicago. He has often contributed his short works to The New Yorker and Esquire magazine as well as delivered them on a radio show entitled "This American Life," a Public Radio International distribution. He has gained an international audience for his top-selling books and collections of stories such as Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, Me Talk Pretty One Day and Naked. He also gained mainstream attention in the US by appearing on shows such as "The David Letterman Show." Sedaris was also the editor for the book Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules: An Anthology of Outstanding Stories. Sedaris has worked with his sister Amy on the plays The Book of Liz, Stump the Host and One Woman Shoe, an Obie Award-winner. He was nominated for Grammy Awards in the categories of "Best Spoken Word Album" (for Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim) and "Best Comedy Album" (for David Sedaris: Live at Carnegie Hall). He was the third writer to receive the Thurber Prize for American Humor. Time Magazine named Sedaris "Humorist of the Year" in 2001. Presently, Sedaris resides in France with his partner Hugh Hamrick.

About WaterTower Theatre - Now in its 19th season, WaterTower Theatre began life in 1996 with 136 brave subscribers. Today, with over 2000 subscribers and a budget of $1.5 million, it consistently earns rave reviews in The Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Observer, and other local publications. With 104 Dallas Theatre League Leon Rabin Award Nominations and 28 wins to its credit, as well as 17 Dallas Fort Worth Theatre Critics Forum Awards, WaterTower Theatre is home to the finest local talent. This year, WaterTower Theatre won six Dallas Fort-Worth Critics Association awards.

WaterTower Theatre has produced 5 world premiere productions and 20 regional premiere productions to date. WaterTower Theatre's tradition of world premiere programming includes the musicals Song of Motherhood and Blind Lemon: Prince of Country Blues. Dramatic world premieres include Free Fall with Sandy Duncan, Baptized to the Bone by Dave Johnson (which is enjoying healthy post-WaterTowerTheatre life) and A Country Life, Producing Artistic Director Terry Martin's southern adaptation of Anton Chekhov's Uncle Vanya. Both Blind Lemon and A Country Life earned WaterTower Theatre a Dallas Theatre League Leon Rabin Award for Best New Work.

WaterTower Theatre is committed to nurturing emerging talent and expanding audiences. The annual Out of the Loop Fringe Festival strives to present new work by local and national writers. A major part of WaterTower Theatre's education program partners professional artists and technicians with students at our Summer Performing Arts Conservatory, where students ages 8 - 18 learn "life skills through theatre skills." In addition, master classes and workshops for professional performers offer an opportunity for continued education at the local level.

Pictured: Garret Storms in The Santaland Diaries. Photo by Kelsey Leigh Ervi.

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