In a perfect world, the cast of Holiday Punch would confine itself to the show’s script, foregoing such onstage antics as taking cell phone calls onstage, making snarky remarks to fellow actors, taking selfies, kissing men in the audience and basically disregarding all basic rules of actor conduct. But then, you would be watching some other show than Holiday Punch. All these elements (and many more) are found in this long-running homegrown holiday parody, which mixes comedy skits with political satire and traditional holiday songs. One might imagine that only impeccably trained actors could manage the goofy stunts within The Last Holiday Punch. But in this diverse cast of 10 actors, it is almost impossible to tell who are the mainstream Milwaukee actors and who are the newcomers. As show creator and artistic director Dale Gutzman remarks to the audience, the actors range in age from 16-60+ and include a couple of Hispanics, a young Irish girl, a younger Jewish girl, and more than a couple of gay actors, to boot. What they cobble together in the name of “entertainment” is simply divine. Punch is sort of a very adult version of the old TV show, “Laugh-In.” The reason this production is billed as The Last Holiday Punch is that it has become a local tradition. The first show dates back to the early 1980s. Now the show’s creator (and onstage emcee) Dale Gutzman has decided to tie a bow on the tradition and put it on the shelf. Nothing lasts forever, he tells the audience.
However, Gutzman and company are going out with a bang in this non-stop, hilarious production. Theatergoers who know their Broadway musicals and Shakespeare plays are in for a treat, as both pop up in the most unexpected places. For instance, the Act II curtain opens with a live nativity set. Surrounding the baby Jesus are Mary and Joseph, of course, but also a half-dressed angel with a tiger on a leash. They are frozen in position. Not a word is said for what seems like hours. Then, with a few telltale piano notes, comes the introduction to Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George. One after another, the actors start to complain, “it’s hot up here.” As always, Punch is for adults only. Not only does one actor drop his pants onstage, but the generally bawdy humor and non-politically correct messages on some cast tee-shirts rule out kiddies in the audience. Among the show’s many highlights is a “Milwaukee Riverdance.” The dancers wear foam cheese heads and Packers attire. In another memorable scene, national news is inserted as well, with Jeremy C. Welter giving an awesome impression of Melania Trump. This is preceded by a wacky version of Sweeney Todd that characterizes president-elect Donald Trump as “the leader of Tweet Street.” Then there’s a send-up of that goes back in time to when Hollywood filmmakers put stars in musicals who couldn’t sing. Their songs were dubbed in later using professional singers. Everything begins well as “professional singers” Gutzman and Zoe Schwartz sing a tune that Nelson Eddy might have warbled, until a short break between verses results in disaster. David Flores, one of Off the Wall’s mainstays, not only participates in the comic group numbers, but also does some readings and sings a couple of heartfelt solos. The timing of these breaks give the audience a chance to catch its breath from laughing so hard during the rest of the show. However, one leaves the theater with a feeling of sadness, to think that one of Milwaukee’s holiday lights is going dark after so many years. Who knows? Perhaps another entrepreneur will re-light the torch next year.
Parental control: Partial nudity, extreme adult language.
