Garret Storms to Star in WaterTower Theatre's THE SANTALAND DIARIES; Cast & Creatives Announced!

Garret Storms will make his WaterTower Theatre debut as David (Crumpet the Elf) in the David Sedaris holiday season comedy The Santaland Diaries, December 13 to 29, 2013, in the Studio Theatre at the Addison Theatre and Conference Centre. Kelsey Ervi, Assistant to the Producing Artistic Director at WaterTower Theatre, directs.

Ervi's creative team includes Jason Harris (Set Designer), Derek Whitener (Costume Designer), Kenneth Farnsworth (Lighting Designer), Charles Wallace (Props Designer) and Linsey Retcofsky (Stage Manager).

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).

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:

Show Run Dates: Friday, December 13 - Sunday, December 29, 2013

Opening Night: Friday, December 13 at 8 p.m.

Performances:

Wednesdays & Thursdays: 7:30 p.m.

Fridays & Saturdays: 8 p.m.

Saturdays: 2 p.m. (December 21 only)

Sundays: 2 p.m.

No performance on Christmas Day.

Ticket Prices: Single Tickets: $22 (Wed., & Thurs.) - $27.50 (Fri., Sat., Sun.). How/Where to Buy Tickets: 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 makes his WaterTower Theatre debut in The Santaland Diaries. 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 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 Ervi (Director): Kelsey Ervi makes her directing debut at WaterTower Theatre with The Santaland Diaries. She was assistant director for WTT's recent productions of The Grapes of Wrath, The Ugly One and August: Osage County. Since relocating to Dallas last February, Ervi has been keeping busy with numerous theatre companies in the area as a director, actor and playwright. Her other credits include The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told (Uptown Players), Ask Questions Later (Rite of Passage Theatre Company), The Winter's Tale, Twelfth Night, Hamlet (Shakespeare Dallas), Dani Girl, Waking Up (Greyman Theatre Company), [sic], After the Revolution, The Lucky Chance (Echo Theatre) and Into the Woods (PFamily Arts). Ervi holds a BFA in Theatre Performance from Baylor University and currently serves as Assistant to the Producing Artistic Director of 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: WaterTower Theatre is one of the leading regional theatres in North Dallas and Texas. The Company's 2012-2013 season will be its 17th season. It is consistently recognized for its artistic excellence by the Dallas Theatre League, Dallas/Fort Worth Theatre Critics Forum, The Dallas Morning News, The Dallas Observer, D Magazine and The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, among others. WaterTower Theatre has a subscription base of more than 2,000 subscribers and serves an audience of over 32,000 patrons annually.

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