Press Release
MEDIA CONTACT:
Steven Box,
Director of Sales and Marketing
Triad Stage
232 South Elm Street
Greensboro, NC 27401
336.274.0067 ext. 216
steven@triadstage.org
David Sedaris’ Hilarious The Santaland Diaries Is a Holiday Laugh Riot at Triad Stage’s UpStage Cabaret, November 19 – December 19, 2009
Jim Moscater is the disgruntled Macy’s elf Crumpet in this comedy for grown ups.
(Greensboro, NC) —Triad Stage presents the return of David Sedaris’ hit one-man show, The Santaland Diaries, in The UpStage Cabaret. Welcome back the quintessential elf gone bad in this hilarious antidote for holiday havoc. Spend some time with the irreverent Crumpet – one of Santa’s little helpers during the Macy’s Christmas shopping rush – as he copes with thousands of shoppers and their kiddies with his whacked out, wicked wit. The Santaland Diaries runs November 19 through December 19, 2009. Opening Night is Thursday, November 19. The Santaland Diaries is not recommended for younger audiences.
David Sedaris, a native of Raleigh, North Carolina, originally wrote the essay The Santaland Diaries as a true account of his time spent working as an elf in “SantaLand” at Macy’s department store in New York City. Sedaris gained national fame after reading the essay on National Public Radio in 1992, and published it in his collections Barrel Fever and Holidays on Ice. In 1996, Tony Award®-winning director Joe Mantello (Wicked, 9 to 5) adapted the story as a one-act, one-man stage play.
This production marks the fourth time The Santaland Diaries has been performed at Triad Stage, the first two times being MainStage holiday specials in 2004 and 2005, and the third was the 2008 sold-out production in The UpStage Cabaret. This new production is directed by Jim Wren, a professor of Theatre at UNC Greensboro, where he just directed the hit Evil Dead: The Musical. Jim Moscater dons the elf outfit as Crumpet. Moscater earned his MFA degree in Theatre at UNC Greensboro. In addition to acting, he is a novelist, and will publish his first book, “You’re Never Alone” in 2010. He is also a writer/researcher/consultant for PSFK, a trends consultancy in NYC, and a musician under the alias of “fantasierock.”
The creative team includes scenic and lighting designer Nicholas Hussong, costume designer Kelsey Hunt, and sound designer Daniel Horney. The stage manager is Emily J. Mails.
Biographies for the cast and creative team are online at www.triadstage.org.
Tickets are $20 for seats to all 7:30 p.m. performances, and $15 for seats to all 10:00 p.m. late night performances. Seating is general admission. The doors open thirty minutes prior to each performance for bar service inside The UpStage Cabaret space. Tickets are on sale now at the Triad Stage Box Office and online through Triad Stage’s website.
All performances are at Triad Stage’s UpStage Cabaret on the top floor of The Pyrle Theater, located at 232 South Elm Street in historic downtown Greensboro, North Carolina (between Market and Washington Streets).
Show times for The Santaland Diaries are Thursdays – Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., with additional late night performances Fridays and Saturdays at 10:00 p.m. There is no performance on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 26.
About Triad Stage
Triad Stage is a professional not-for-profit regional theater company based in Greensboro’s downtown historic district. All Triad Stage productions are created in Greensboro using the best of local and national talent. Triad Stage gratefully acknowledges the support of its Season Sponsors: Mitre Agency, the North Carolina Arts Council and the United Arts Council of Greater Greensboro. The production sponsor for The Santaland Diaries is YES! Weekly.
All Triad Stage productions feature the bold acting and breathtaking design that have been nationally recognized by The Wall Street Journal and haveearned the theater accolades including “One of the Best Regional Theatres in America”, New York’s Drama League; “Best Live Theater”, Go Triad/News & Record and The Rhinoceros Times; and “Professional Theater of the Year”, North Carolina Theatre Conference.
About The UpStage Cabaret
In late 2007, Triad Stage began the conversion of The Pyrle Theater’s top floor storage area into a new rehearsal hall, WUNC Public Radio’s Greensboro satellite bureau and a second performance space known as The UpStage Cabaret. Created with flexibility and intimacy in mind, The UpStage Cabaret has seating with tables for 80 people, bar service and a relaxed, easy-going atmosphere that blends downtown flair with uptown chic. Not only home to theatrical productions by Triad Stage, The UpStage Cabaret plays host to Entertainment UpStage – a series of events that includes film screenings, live concerts, poetry readings and more.
