David Sedaris's THE SANTALAND DIARIES at Santa Monica Playhouse

"A sardonic, merrily subversive tale-just the antidote to bright-eyed joy before too many shopping days have passed. Worth more than a photo album full of Santas!" NY Newsday

Santa Monica Playhouse proudly presents Patrick Censoplano in the return of David Sedaris's The SantaLand Diaries, a delightfully tart, cheerfully twisted holiday tale, directed by Chris DeCarlo, adapted by Joe Mantello, playing December 2 through 18, 2016, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 3:30pm, with a special preview performance on Thursday December 1st at 8pm.

When it was first broadcast on National Public Radio, The SantaLand Diaries generated more requests for tapes than any story in This American Life's history except the death of Red Barber. Timothy Olyphant brought the story to life on stage off-Broadway, and now Patrick Censoplano dons the candy-cane tights for a Santa Monica Playhouse holiday celebration in this outrageously funny one-man play from NPR's well-loved humorist David Sedaris about the author's experiences as an unemployed writer taking a job as an elf at Macy's department store in New York City, taking a wry look at how the holiday season brings out the best - and the worst - in us all.

"A delightfully thorny account of working as a Yuletide elf at Macy's. Priceless observations, both outrageous and subtle. Destined to hold a place in the annals of American humor writing." NY Times

SantaLand stars Patrick Censoplano and is helmed by Playhouse Artistic Director Chris DeCarlo, with appropriately cheerful holiday costumes by award-winning designer Ashley Hayes, outrageous yuletide set by James Cooper and sound design by The Attic Room. Dryer Devereaux does double duty as Technical Director and Production Stage Manager. Not suitable for under 15s.

"A satirical brazenness that holds up next to Twain and Nathanael West." The New Yorker

Patrick Censoplano returns to Santa Monica Playhouse - where he previously starred in the revival of Lisa Phillips Visca's CLIMAX and the modern myth Drempels, following his Playhouse debut in the semi-possessed role of Brandon/Gandor/Grandalf in Adults, Keep Out! during which he sang a riotous duet with himself. That sounds about right. Raised in the suburbs of D.C. by a couple of zany New Yorkers, Patrick began performing at a young age in any available venue, from professional theater to puppet shows in the living room. He went on to attend the Virginia Governor's School for Performing Arts, earned a degree in Theater from The College of William & Mary, and has studied acting in D.C., New York, London, and trained in Australian and international techniques (along with improv and sketch comedy) right here in Los Angeles. Recent credits include Grey's Anatomy, and the multiple award winning dramatic short Our Father starring Michael Gross and Michael Worth.

Veteran director Chris DeCarlo has been acting, writing and directing in Los Angeles for more than 40 years, bringing to the stage over 250 World Premieres and American Premieres, including the critically acclaimed stage adaptation of Dostoevsky's Notes From Underground, Hard Laughs starring Sammy Shore and Ron Palillo, Michel Garneau's Quatre á Quatre, Stephen King and Robert B. Parker's RAGE, Brenda Krantz's Lovely!, starring Louise Sorrell, the Ovation-nominated Picon Pie, Todd Susman's Locked and Loaded, the long-running Wyse-Rae-Waldman hit musical Funny, You Don't Look Like a Grandmother. Among his LA TIMES Critics' Pick productions are Doug Knott's Last of the Knotts, the Silver Anniversary production of Jerry Mayer's Aspirin & ELEPHANTS, the Sroka/Fleming comedy Dying for Laughs starring Stuart Pankin, and Charlie Lustman's pop operetta Made Me Nuclear. Recent credits: Santa Monica Playhouse's critically acclaimed productions of Arnold Schulman's Sleeping Ugly, Lisa Phillips Visca's Raise Me Up and Jerry Mayer's 2 ACROSS, Almost Perfect and How To Love A Republican.

David Sedaris is an American humorist, comedian, author, and radio contributor. He was publicly recognized in 1992 when National Public Radio broadcast his essay"SantaLand Diaries." He published his first collection of essays and short stories, Barrel Fever, in 1994. His next five essay collections, Naked, Holidays on Ice, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, and When You Are Engulfed in Flames, became New York Times Best Sellers. As of 2015, his books have sold ten million copies. Much of Sedaris' humor is ostensibly autobiographical and self-deprecating, and often concerns his family life, his middle-class upbringing in the suburbs of Raleigh, North Carolina and his Greek heritage.

Joseph Mantello (Adaptation) an American actor and director best known for his work on Broadway productions of Wicked, Take Me Out and Assassins, as well as earlier in his career being one of the original Broadway cast of Angels in America. Mantello directed The Ritz, his sixth production with playwright Terrence McNally, in 2007. Mantello directed the Jon Robin Baitz play Other Desert Cities at the Booth Theater in 2011. He returned to acting with the role of Ned Weeks in the Broadway limited engagement revival of The Normal Heart for which he was nominated for the Tony Award. Mantello had previously been nominated for the Tony Award for his role as Louis in Angels in America.

The SantaLand Diaries plays Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 3:30pm, December 3 through 18, 2016. General admission is $29.50. Discounts are available for students, teachers, seniors, members of the military and groups of 8 or more. Toast the holidays with a pre-show glass of champagne or non-alcoholic eggnog, included in your ticket price! Tickets for the special preview performances Thursday and Friday, December 3 & 4, at 8pm are $19.50 with no further discounts. For reservations visit http://SantaMonicaPlayhouse.com or call The Playhouse Box Office at 1-310-394-9779 extension 1. For about group sales and holiday parties offered in conjunction with every performance, use extension 2.

The Santa Monica Playhouse Main Stage is at 1211 4th Street (between Wilshire and Arizona) in the heart of downtown Santa Monica. Convenient parking is located directly across the street in city lot #1. By public transportation: take the Santa Monica Blue Bus or the LA Metro Rapid #720 and exit at 4th and Wilshire or the new Metro Expo line to Colorado & 4th.

Santa Monica Playhouse is supported in part by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, by the City of Santa Monica and the Santa Monica Arts Commission, and by U.S. Bank.

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