Not so fast, Nutcracker. Step aside, Messiah. John Waters is in town, and the holidays won’t be quite the same this year. The renowned director of such cult classics as Pink Flamingos and Polyester hits the Harris Theater on December 14 with A John Waters Christmas—and God bless us, every one. The Baltimore-born legend, whose curiosity about all things cruddy, creepy and stomach-churning belies an intellect adept at incisive social commentary, never minces words—nor does he pass up an opportunity to make us laugh at things we shouldn’t. And while his celebration of bad taste and bad behavior may seem sophomoric, his work is spun with an almost innocent glee. “Christmas carols are a dime a dozen,” notes Steve Abrams, executive vice president and general manager of the Harris Theater for Music and Dance. “Waters is certain to put the ‘X’ back in Xmas.”
For a man who has populated his films with transvestites and fetishists negotiating the disdain of society, it’s not surprising that A John Waters Christmas is no Miracle on 34th Street. The show, which Waters has been presenting for several years (this is the first time he’s brought it to Chicago), had its genesis in an essay he penned for National Lampoon back in 1985. “If you don’t have yourself a merry little Christmas,” he told readers, “you might as well kill yourself.” Of course, his idea of a happy holiday is getting a birdhouse replica of the Unabomber’s cabin (yes, a company in New York makes such things).
As anyone who’s seen Waters on The Colbert Report or The Daily Show with Jon Stewart knows, the man is some storyteller. And A John Waters Christmas is a wonderful extension of his chitchatting charms. He shares his own cherished Christmas memories (finding Grandmother pinned beneath her tree, for starters), muses on Santa’s sexual appeal and, if the mood strikes him, may well dish religion and politics the way you could only dream of doing ’round the Yuletide table. harristheaterchicago.org
ABOVE: John Waters
Family First
Steppenwolf Theatre Company certainly has its share of breakout star alumni— think Gary Sinise, John Malkovich, Laurie Metcalf and John Mahoney. Ensemble member Tracy Letts is no slouch either. An actor and playwright, his August: Osage County was a hit on Broadway and across the country, garnering the Pulitzer Prize and five Tony Awards. And as a performer, Letts has made powerful appearances in Steppenwolf productions of David Mamet’s American Buffalo and Harold Pinter’s Betrayal. Now, the native Oklahoman is back onstage at Steppenwolf in Edward Albee’s searing 1962 drama, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (December 2–February 13). While Albee’s elliptical and almost musically pitched style couldn’t be further from his own straightforward, often down-and-dirty dialogue, Letts—whose plays present family members eviscerating one another—will no doubt feel right at home in this drama of scalding love and personae-shattering sniping. steppenwolf.org
LEFT: Tracy Letts
