THE SANTA CLOSET Launches Triangle Players Holiday Season On November 18

Richmond Triangle Players launches the holiday season with the regional premiere of Jeffrey Solomon's The Santa Closet, an "tell-all" proving the existence of Santa ... but perhaps not like you have always imagined! The production will open Friday, November 20, 2020 after two low-priced previews on Wednesday and Thursday November 18 and 19. The production will run through December 19, and will have streaming options available as well.

Seating capacity for this production will be limited to comply with Virginia's re-opening guidelines for entertainment venues; other CDC-recommended safety protocols will also be followed to ensure the safety of patrons, as well as RTP staff and artists during the show. Masks must be worn by patrons all those entering or inside the theatre. Tickets for the live performances go on sale Thursday, October 22 at 10:00 am. Streaming tickets will be available shortly.

In this hilarious and at times touching one-person show (RTP holiday fare akin to our smash hit The Santaland Diaries), Little Gary's gender-atypical gift request, sent to the North Pole, is denied. A series of subsequent heart-felt letters from the child nudge Santa Claus out of the closet and right into the center of a heated culture war. Playwright Jeffrey Solomon, a theatrical documentarian in the mold of Anna Deveare Smith, lovingly sends up the form, purporting to have interviewed all the key players in the scandal known as "Santa-Gate!" The Santa Closet is a funny, sensitive and imaginative tale that pulls at the holiday heartstrings while asking the question "How do we speak honestly and openly to children, and each other, about LGBTQ+ lives and issues"?

The production is directed by Nora Ogunleye (seen onstage in last year's holiday smash hit Times Square Angel) and stars Eddie Webster, noted for his appearances in Times Square Angel, Corpus Christi and as Gould in Grey Gardens. Levi Meerovich will alternate in the role at select performances to be announced. Lighting design for the production is by Deryn Gabor, with sound design by Joey Luck. Lauren Langston is the stage manager.

RTP's fabled bar will be in operation for all performances, utilizing a new mobile ordering system which eliminates standing in line to order, and provides easy contactless pick-up. Cashless payments are required to use it.

Flex subscriptions are also now available for purchase, which will enable patrons to secure seats for all or some of RTP's 2020-21 season at a substantial discount. Flex vouchers come in packs of 5 and 3, and can be exchanged for onstage or streaming seats for all "mainstage" productions in RTP's 2020-2021 season.

All performances will take place at Richmond Triangle Players' home at the Robert B. Moss Theatre at 1300 Altamont Avenue in Scott's Addition, just northwest of the intersection of Arthur Ashe Boulevard and West Broad Street. Reserved seat tickets can be purchased online at RTP's web site at www.rtriangle.org, through RTP's Facebook page, or by leaving a message on the RTP Ticket hotline at 804-346-8113. Tickets for the live productions are $35 for Friday and Saturday evenings, and $30 for weekday evenings and Sunday matinees. The streaming option will be available for $25. All tickets for these productions must be purchased in advance; there will be no walk-up options available.

RTP's 2021-21 productions have been made possible in part by generous contributions from the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, The Roy Cockrum Foundation, CultureWorks Grant Program, the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation Resilience Fund, the Virginia Commission for the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

For more information, please contact RTP executive director Philip Crosby at 804-342-7665 or by e-mail at Crosby@rtriangle.org.

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