‘Holiday Punch’ still packs a wallop
Off the Wall performs beloved revue for last time
Among the many Broadway musicals being bent through what Dale Gutzman is calling the last-ever edition of his “Holiday Punch” revue, the best involved an extended riff on “A Chorus Line,” repurposed here as an audition of elves.
Gutzman’s justly beloved “Punch” has been around almost as long as this 1975 Broadway smash, but the correlation between his Off the Wall Theatre and that musical’s story — involving unknown dancers in tryouts for a spot on a Broadway chorus line — goes much deeper.
As with those dancers, Gutzman’s actors toil in relative obscurity, persisting because they love what they do while battling latent insecurities about their talent and wondering whether it’s all worth it. As with those dancers, Off the Wall’s actors, therefore, bring a thrilling urgency to much of their work.
And as with those dancers, Gutzman’s actors balance a competitive quest for individual recognition with the love and solidarity they feel for each other; that tension was baked into this year’s script, as various cast members lobbied for the right to sing the night’s final song.
All of which may sound too serious for a show that had me laughing most of the night. For every groaner, there were two winners, including takedowns of Donald Trump (“Sweeney Todd” will never be the same); social media and our obsession with our phones (Pokémon will never be the same); and Cheeseheads (undressed in more ways than you’d ever imagine).
But even as I laughed, I couldn’t shake the feeling that “A Chorus Line” drives home and Gutzman periodically reinforces, through repeated references to this being the final “Punch”: Nothing lasts forever. In the ephemeral world of live theater, some things don’t even outlast a performance.
Hence the spoof of “Oklahoma,” now set in an old-age home — with an accompanying suggestion that the many aging actors at Off the Wall will soon be among the only people who’ll still appreciate a chestnut like this one.
Hence the clever sendup of Stephen Sondheim’s “It’s Hot Up Here” from “Sunday in the Park with George,” with characters from Seurat’s painting now repurposed as figures in a Nativity scene; in both tableaux, a fleeting moment of perfection also presages decay, decline and death.
Hence “Shakespeare Santa,” in which Gutzman embodies a formerly renowned Shakespearean actor, still mouthing lines even though nobody is listening.
And hence the cast’s bittersweet rendition of “Memory” from “Cats” — struggling in revival, with efforts to update it, underscoring how dated it’s become.
Conversely, “Punch” seems forever young, true of the actors both young (including one in high school) and old (Gutzman is in his seventies) who created fond memories for me through this show: Maura Atwood and David Flores. Gutzman and Sandy Lewis. Donna Lobacz and Lawrence J. Lukasavage. Kayla Salter and Zoe Schwartz. James Strange and Jeremy C. Welter.
“Holiday Punch” continues through Dec. 31 at Off the Wall Theatre, 127 E. Wells St. For tickets, visit www.offthewalltheatre.com.