Critics' Reviews
Chris Gibson - Broadway World
HotCity Theatre offers up a decidedly different take on the usual yuletide fare with their delightfully twisted production of Jeff Goode's icon-shattering play, The Eight: Reindeer Monologues. While taking its stylistic inspiration from The Vagina Monologues, Goode's wacky script focuses our attention on accusations of sexual impropriety that have been leveled against Santa Claus by one of his reindeer. Obviously, this is not your typical holiday show, but that works in its favor, delivering scores of irreverent laughs while skewering and satirizing the image of "good St. Nick".
The set up centers around Vixen's assertions that Santa violated her one night in the toyshop. Apparently, Rudolph, who had been a victim of Santa's peculiar peccadillos himself, witnessed the act in progress and slipped into a catatonic state. The rest of the reindeer are in disagreement over the voracity of Vixen's claims, and each gets a turn to express their point of view, or lack thereof, on the matter.
Robert A. Mitchell kicks things off with his bitter portrayal of Dasher. He's been around the longest, and he reveals the treacherous nature of his annual duties, but refuses to take a stand where Vixen is concerned. He's followed by J.J. Sitzmann's over the top take on the openly gay Cupid. Cupid has seen his share of naughty behavior from both Mr. and Mrs. Claus, and he's not shy about the details, letting loose with enough damaging information to take down the jolly old elf.
Tyler Vickers enters next as Hollywood, renamed after his starring role opposite Cloris Leachman and Sam Elliott in the 1989 film Prancer. Vickers brings considerable energy to his role as the self-obsessed reindeer, more concerned with his career than any conduct unbecoming by his boss. The militant feminism of Kim Furlow's tough-minded Blitzen is a decided change from the previous participants. Blitzen is trying to get the herd to go on strike for better working conditions in light of Vixen's allegations, but when her efforts fall on deaf ears she opts for a more explosive solution.
Rusty Gunther is alternately funny and touching as Comet, a reformed gangbanger who owes his change in attitude and outlook to St. Nick (with the emphasis on "Saint"). Gunther charms with his tale of redemption, and he offers up the only real element of doubt. Kari Ely's boozy Dancer arrives next, explaining how she arrived at the North Pole after being persecuted for her work with the Reindeer Ballet. She enlightens us about Claus's kinky tendencies with the revelation of her own close call with "little Santa".
As the immensely troubled Donner, Alan Knoll smokes leftover cigarettes and chugs down Stag beer while elaborating on his tale of woe. As Rudolph's father, he suffered the humiliation of having a "deformed" offspring, and compounded that by allowing Santa to have his way with the young buck in exchange for leading the sleigh team. The fetching Julie Venegoni finishes up as Vixen, appearing in a tight leather outfit that emphasizes her decolletage, and, in the process weakens her case. But, she's smart enough to realize that she can't possibly win her fight against a cultural icon.
Sarah Armstrong's direction is well conceived, with each characterization smartly cast and finely tuned. Cameron Fuller's set design conjures up a tiny toyshop atop a pathway that contains a number of different levels for the actors to play off of. Alan Chlebowski's lighting is effective at creating the proper atmosphere. Felia Davenport's costumes range from sleazy to sexy, and are a precise fit for each of these disparate characters.
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By Judith Newmark
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
12/08/2009
Sassy and scandalous, "The Eight: Reindeer Monologues" is a holiday show the way that a family fight is holiday custom.
It may not capture the spirit of the season, but it can be pretty entertaining to watch.
Playwright Jeff Goode (rhymes with "food") and HotCity director Sarah Armstrong do, indeed, entertain us in quasi-holiday style. But although their little tale involves the unsavory goings-on at a certain North Pole workshop, "The Eight" isn't really about Christmas at all. It's a smart, acerbic musing on scandal in a tabloid-TV world.
Before the play begins, the fat's already in the roaring fire. The provocative Vixen (Julie Venegoni) claims that Santa assaulted her; something terrible has happened to the tragically deformed Rudolph, too.
As the members of Santa's elite reindeer corps step forward, one by one, to share their "inside" stories, they seem strangely familiar. Despite their antlers (cleverly created by costumer Felia Davenport to reflect their personal styles), we realize how well we know these characters.
There's the angry feminist Blitzen (Kim Furlow) who leaps to Vixen's defense, the egocentric Hollywood (Tyler Vickers) who can't help seeing how these unfortunate developments might mean good things for his career, and Santa's loyal defender, the former gang-banger Comet (Rusty Gunther, who manages a hilarious performance as his waistband inches down his thighs).
Dasher (Robert A. Mitchell) seethes with resentment, fey Cupid (J.J. Sitzmann) thinks it's all a big joke, and alcoholic Dancer (Kari Ely, in leg-warmers) can't exactly keep her train of thought. There's even a pathetic reindeer, Rudolph's worthless father Donner (Alan Knoll), to remind us that behind the titillating gossip, hey, there's a human. . . um, cervine ... tragedy!
Could Geraldo Rivera ask for a better lineup? Could Nancy Grace or Harvey Levin or that "Access Hollywood" pair?
Obviously, "The Eight" isn't for kids (HotCity suggests it's not for anyone under 18) or the sentimental. But if you like a dash of acid in your eggnog, you'll appreciate this smart comedy. With a punch of recognition and a jab of satire, "The Eight" puts scandal-mongering in its rightful place, remote and frozen.