Want to sit, if not in his lap, in Santa’s chair?
That is part of the fun at the TheatreWorks Silicon Valley production of “The SantaLand Diaries,” which closes Sunday after a short run at the Lohman Theatre in Los Altos Hills.
Theater-goers who get there a little early can sit in the big, candy cane-festooned chair, and pose for selfies using their smart phones.
It’s an experiment for TheatreWorks, which is having, as Managing Director Phil Santora noted in an interview on Wednesday, a season of firsts.
“It’s a fall of us trying new things,” Santora said. “Having a second holiday production in a smaller space with ‘SantaLand,’ the biggest production in our history with ‘The Prince of Egypt.’ (In October.) We are exploring what we are, and what we might become.”
TheatreWorks has its usual main holiday show running at the Lucie Stern Theatre in Palo Alto. This year it is “Around the World in 80 Days,” which is selling out its seats for most performances, and filling the old theater with gales of laughter.
The new idea is the second holiday show, which this year is “The SantaLand Diaries,” by David Sedaris, in the much smaller Lohman Theatre.
The one-man show, starring Max Tachis, is hilarious, and is pleasing smaller audiences, and seems to be fulfilling one of TheatreWorks’ hopes: To get younger audiences in the theater.
Because of the smaller theater — the Lohman, for this show, seats 190, while the Lucie Stern seats a bit over 400 — TheatreWorks tried a “rolling opening.”
Over Dec. 7 and Dec. 8, slightly different groups were invited. Dec. 7 was the press opening, the 7:30 p.m. show on Dec. 8 was for board members and other big-deal supporters, and the 10 p.m. show on Dec. 8 was for TheatreWorks staff. Between those two shows was a party.
Doing the two-performance nights is also new for TheatreWorks.
The show is gorgeously presented, with a colorful set by Christopher Fitzer; a very funny elf costume by Jill C. Bowers worn with élan by the tall, lanky Tachis; and better sound (Howard Ho) and lighting (Mia Kumamoto) than usually experienced at the Lohman.
Tachis comes out to start the show casually, talking with the audience like old pals, and carrying beer. He encourages people to make photos of him before telling them to put their smart phones away during the show.
And he complains about not having someone to help him move some of the props around.
“We don’t have crew for this?” he asks.
“They’re all working on ’80 Days,’” says stage manager Sara Sparks over the P.A.
Seats for the Friday, Dec. 22, 10 p.m. show are only $10, said Santora. To get the deal, call the box office at 650-463-1960 or visit https://theatreworks.org/201718-season/201718-season/santaland-diaries/ and use the discount code: latenight.
