[NEohioPAL]Humor for the Holidays -- "Help Me, Holiday Hotline" Opens At CPT's Orthodox

[Bodwin Theatre Company]

List: Last spring, a few actors, musicians and writers opened the Dark Room, 
sponsored by the Cleveland Theater Collective, an experimental space where 
writers and performed could test stories, songs and scripts for small 
audiences.  Back when the flowers bloomed, writer Linda Eistenstein tested 
some holiday songs and stories, which is now full-blown, part of a troika of 
satirical holiday stories at Cleveland Public Theater’s complex on Detroit 
Avenue.  Eisenstein, joined by writer Michael Sepesy, present  “Holiday 
Hotline,” which fits in comfortably along with “Mrs. Bob Cratchitt’s Wild 
Christmas Binge” and the “Santaland Diaries.”

“Holiday Hotline,” at the Orthodox, a converted church, starts with 
enthusiasm, as stressed phone operators offer call-in advice, despite their 
own holiday depression, singing “Help Me, Holiday Hotline.” The advice gag 
continues, interspersed throughout the show.  There are a lot of fun numbers 
and great singing, including:

o A retail store manager (Mark Cipra) evaluates the latest technology 
innovation to induce shopping frenzy (“You know You Want Me, Baby”);
o A depressed Jesus (Andrew Narten) laments (“You’re the Reason”);
o An operatic mom (Kim Aldrich-Ceja) struggles with a bicycle with “some 
assembly required;”
o A full cast number about the burden of obligatory good cheer (“Mandatory 
Merriment”); and
o A Christmas Elf (Denise Astorino) offering season’s wishes, with an 
important toast.

Michael Flohr provides the music, along with some fabricated commercials and 
commentary, while Director Mindy Childress kept the material moving along 
briskly.  There are some other features that could benefit with some 
retooling, but it’s a hoot for the holidays, an indicator of what creative 
people can work up in a dark room.  "Hotline" features terrific 
singer/actors, Kim Aldrich-Ceja, Denise Astorino, Mark Cipra, Mary Ann 
Elder, Hester Lewellen, Andrew Narten, with music accompaniment by Michael 
Flohr, and performs at the Orthodox at CPT, 6203 Detroit Avenue on 
Cleveland’s Westside, through December 23rd.

Kevin Cronin
Bodwin Theatre Company
a nonprofit theater organization
http://bodwin_theatre.tripod.com

Cleveland Theater Collective (CTC)  is your comprehensive source for 
information about professional theater in northeast Ohio. 
www.clevelandtheater.com

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