Review: Cindy Lou Who Tells a Christmas Tale in WHO'S HOLIDAY in Kansas City

It's the Christmas season so what should I do? I'll go to the theater and see Cindy Lou Who. WHO'S HOLIDAY the hilarious parody of Dr. Seuss's "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" is now playing at The Louis Curtiss Studio Building in Kansas City through December 21. This is not a children's show like Dr. Seuss wrote, WHO'S HOLIDAY is intended for an adult audience.

Matthew Lombardo wrote WHO'S HOLIDAY and had to sue the Dr. Seuss estate in order to get permission to produce the play in 2017. Padgett Productions presents this wacky Christmas show directed by Katie Gilchrist. It is definitely a show like no other, it is as if Dr. Seuss was on steroids (possibly the only thing Cindy Lou Who isn't addicted to).

The combination of a delightfully humorous script, Gilchrest's directing, and Helena Casentino's performance make for a dynamic night of entertainment. The one-woman show takes place over a 65-minute span (depending on the amount of laughter according to Nick Padgett, Producing Artistic Director) detailing what has happened to Cindy Lou since she first met the Grinch when she was only two.

Cosentino brings the audience to its knees in laughter as she delivers her lines from the stage and from the audience. All the time helping them to cope with moving from rowdy laughter to heartache while speaking in the rhyming couplet of Dr. Seuss. The energy she brings to the stage is non-stop as she flips from telling her tale in a cheerful voice to the snide remarks she makes at the phone and sometimes the audience, bringing chants and jeers from the crowded theater.

Cindy Lou tells her story of how she fell head over heels for the Grinch (the same thing she is convicted of doing to the Grinch, causing the demise of the large green creature), and her being outcast from Whoville because even though she isn't a baker she had a bun in the oven. She has invited her friends to the Christmas party she was giving to help get over her not being with her daughter Patti. She uses the audience to warm up for the party before each of the expected guests' calls and cancels.

WHO'S HOLIDAY is the funniest Christmas show I've seen this season. I do believe I may have caught something while at the theater. After all, laughter is contagious, and laughter was abundant throughout the show. WHO'S HOLIDAY runs through December 21. To purchase tickets online go to www.whokansascity.com.

Photos courtesy of Padgett Productions

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