Grinches, Gay Scrooges, and More

The usual onslaught of holiday-themed shows in the Southland is underway this year. Here are a few highlights:

Making its L.A. debut, following 11 years as a staple offering at the Old Globe in San Diego, and seasonal Broadway productions since 2006, is Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!  The Musical at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, through January 3. John Larroquette stars as Max the Dog. It's based on the famous children's book by Dr. Seuss, with book and lyrics by Timothy Mason and music by Mac Marvin. Supplying additional music and lyrics are Albert Hague and Dr. Seuss. A timeless story about the true meaning of Christmas, this promises to be one of the strongest attractions amid the year-end fare.

The Troubadour Theatre Company, which for 14 years has offered zany musical shows parodying pop and rock songwriters and performers, offers the latest of several holiday-themed spoofs it has presented over the years. Frosty the Snow Manilow, directed by Matt Walker and featuring the ever-frolicsome Troubies troupe, combines the character of everyone's favorite snowman and pop-tunesmith extraordinaire Barry Manilow. It plays through January 17 at the Falcon Theatre in Burbank.

That irresistible fictional high-school girl group of the 1960s that was first introduced in-director Roger Bean's smash L.A. and Broadway musical The Marvelous Wonderettes returns in Winter Wonderettes. This festive sequel comes back to SoCal in a Laguna Playhouse engagement, running through December 30. Set six months after the prior tuner, the show follows the efforts of our trusty quartet to save the day at an office Christmas party for which Santa failed to show up. From "Jingle Bell Rock" to "It's a Marshmallow World," they bring plenty of sass, class, and rocking energy to perennielly popular holiday tunes.

Those in search of their annual Scrooge fix will have several options this year, as usual. Perhaps the most offbeat one is  Gay Apparel: A Christmas Carol, the third consecutive annual mounting of adapter-director Jason Moyer's unorthodox riff of Dickens, with old Ebeneezer a designer specializing in S&M attire. This irreverent show, which  premiered two years ago at the Celebration Theatre, will be presented at the Lyric Hyperion Theatre and Cafe in Silverlake through December 20.

Prolific actor Nicolas Brendon (pictured here; well known for TV's Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Criminal Minds) stars in David Sedars' audacious solo comedy The Santaland Diaries, recounting the playwright's experiences as an unemployed writer taking a job as an elf at Macy's, pushed to the limits of his patience by obnoxious kids and parents.  The outrageously funny vehicle plays at Blank Theatre's 2nd Stage Theatre in Hollywood, through December 20.

Among others of interest are Barbara Robinson's The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Sierra Madre Playhouse, through December 20), based on her book, about a woman's challenging effort to take over the local neighborhood Christmas celebration; Jeff Goode's bawdy The Eight: Reindeer Monologues (Chance Theater in Anaheim, through December 19), about controversy surrounding one of Santa's trusty reindeer; and the solo comedy Robbie Jensen: The 12 Steps of Christmas (NoHo Arts Center, through December 20), a yuletide take on "life skills" worshops, featuring producer-performer-co-writer Tony Matthews, who collaborates with co-writer Matt Schofield and director Craig Woolson.

There's lots more on tap, but these are among the most tantalizing.  Happy holiday-season viewing.

--Les Spindle