By Hannah Hacking Brown
Off Broadway Theatre’s shows, performed at the cozy Draper Historic Theatre, are a delightful mix of parody and improv, two comedy forms I absolutely adore, so Fright-Mare Before Christmas was a no-brainer for me.
The theater has a bit of parking on the street in front of the building as well as abundant parking in the lot across the street. I love classically styled theaters, and this one felt like a treat when I walked in. It may be a relatively small space, but the team really uses it to its full potential, drawing the audience into their shows in a way that would be harder to do in a larger space.
The Off Broadway Theatre has been around for over 25 years, bringing laughter through their own kind of humor to the public at their Salt Lake City location until last year, when they moved to the Draper Historic Theatre. Eric Jensen, founder of OBT and writer of Fright-Mare Before Christmas, says the production “has been the brain child of many actors over several years.” OBT’s popular “Dracula Vs [fill in the blank]” series has been highly popular, and for years, they wanted to do a “Dracula Vs Santa Claus” show, but it never quite worked. That is, until they had to fill the November slot of the season and someone suggested parodying Nightmare Before Christmas. After that, the pieces fell into place. Jensen wrote the show, and it is directed and choreographed by him and his son Austinn Le Jensen. E. Jensen also wrote the clever lyrics for all the parodies of well-known songs like “I Love Rock and Roll,” “Silver Bells,” and “This is Halloween.”
After stumbling upon a portal to Christmasville, lonely Zack Skellingtor (Robert Roake) meets the love of his life, Dolly (Sabrina Jewel), a malfunctioning toy, but upon their return to Halloweenville, Lord Dracula (Eric Jensen, reprising the role from the aforementioned “Dracula Vs” shows) overhears them telling the town about Christmasville and Santa Claus and decides to kidnap and impersonate Santa (Jake Andersen), and it’s up to Zack and Dolly to stop him.
The show is double cast, and we saw the “Fright” cast. The “Mare” cast performs on Fright’s nights off, which is just the first taste of the pun-derful glory of this show. If you love a good dad joke or seven, this is your kind of show. Part of the fun of the script is trying to figure out where the pun will go before it lands.
Roake, the “Fright” cast’s Zack Skellingtor, has an undeniable stage presence that left me surprised reading his blurb that says he’s new to acting. He takes the stage like he was raised on it, his genuine enjoyment spreading to the audience. If he claimed to have been acting for over a decade, I would’ve believed it. The younger roles Hull, Kitten, and Kaboodle (Kendra Jones, Madison Easton, and Pierce Jones swapping in from the “Mare” cast) also more than carriy their weight, bouncing off of each other with a natural sibling chemistry.
Sound and lights, run by Audrey Porter, are excellent. In one scene, blacklights pair with the costumes (E. Jensen, Janice Jensen, and Katie Whiteley) to create the effect of Dracula in bat form flying over Christmasville with Santa’s Sleigh. The mics and tracks are balanced evenly, leaving the actors heard with ease, the sound effects are fun and always on cue, and the scene change music is top tier. The epic orchestral covers of popular Christmas music during the scene changes for the last quarter of the show is so fun to listen to that I wouldn’t have noticed or cared if a scene change took longer than it should. That said, the set design (E. Jensen and Emily Mouritsen) allows for quick, minimal scene changes, sometimes happening during a scenes without drawing audience attention.
Fright-Mare Before Christmas is a family friendly show, though don’t take that to mean it’s a kids’ show. There are plenty of jokes and references that sail right over kids’ heads and get the adults uproariously laughing. There isn’t a demographic I couldn’t see enjoying this show. Utah natives will get the few local jokes thrown in, one SNL reference in particular would’ve been a lot less hilarious if my husband hadn’t recently showed me the sketch it was parodying, and Santa defending himself against three small children with an Elf on the Shelf just staring at the whole debacle is a comedic moment I won’t be forgetting anytime soon. If you haven’t seen Nightmare Before Christmas (yes, some of us actually haven’t), no worries. The show takes inspiration from the movie, and there are some clear references, but the important things are explained well enough in the script that you really won’t miss much. There really is a joke for everyone in this show, and for most people, there’s a whole lot more than one. So grab your tickets and get ready to let loose. It makes an excellent family night activity for Monday nights.
My husband and I had a wonderful evening watching the show. I wish my schedule would’ve allowed me to go on a Saturday night so I could have stayed for the Laughing Stock improv troupe show after the show, though I did still get a nice taste of it, as the second act includes the cast playing an unscripted improv game, audience input and all. If I can find the time, I would love to go see the other cast perform and bring the rest of the family along with us.
Off Broadway Theatre presents Fright-Mare Before Christmas by Eric Jensen.
Draper Historic Theatre, 12366 900 E, Draper, UT 84020
Nov 4 – Nov 26, 2022 Monday, Friday-Saturday 7:30 PM, Saturday matinee 2:00 PM
Tickets: $16, with discounts for students, seniors, military, and children: Ticket Link
Contact: 801-679-9993
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