Free holiday shows

First Stage and Milwaukee Chamber Theatre have posted holiday shows for free online viewing.

First Stage and Milwaukee Chamber Theatre have posted holiday shows for free online viewing. Both efforts have homey qualities that reflect their artistic cultures.

In “Christmastown Comes to First Stage,” written by José Casas, Samantha D. Montgomery and artistic director Jeff Frank, elves and misfit toys (including the hulking Bumble) from Rudolph’s world come to Milwaukee to help the First Stagers make a holiday music video.

But it’s not all carols and glowing noses, as Bumble, Jack in the Box, Boss Elf (Robby McGhee) and the others struggle to mesh with the First Stage staff and children. The long pandemic seems to have made everyone impatient. Jack in the Box describes himself as “just a misfit toy in a misfit year,” putting words to what many must feel in 2020.

Scenes were videoed in rehearsal spaces, administrative offices and technical / production areas, reminding viewers that it takes many people to create and stage First Stage shows – and that those people have ups and downs like the rest of us.

Humans wear masks throughout, except in mockumentary interview scenes with only one human present.

“Sometimes when you live in a box, you forget about the world outside the box,” Jack says, in a statement that applies literally to him and figuratively to everyone else. Turns out the secret to blending two cultures on a project involves the proper use of everyone’s ears.

Frank directed the show; Traveling Lemur Productions shot and edited the videos.

“Christmastown Comes to First Stage” can be viewed on YouTube through Jan. 2. Visit www.youtube. com/firststage.

Milwaukee Chamber Theatre calls “Seasons Greetings” a collection “of artistic riffs on the holiday traditions of a handful of beloved local artists.” All of these videos can be viewed at milwaukeechambertheatre.org.

Actor Elyse Edelman and Jessica Mendel, with help from 6-year-olds Sinclair and Sebastian Guice-Mendel, share their family Hanukkah traditions with humor and enthusiasm in “Eight Pandemic Nights,” including making latkes, spinning the dreidel and retelling the story of the Maccabees.

Piano man Steve Watts plays and sings Christmas songs from his basement apartment. David Roman teaches his sister Rána Roman how to make pasteles. The Bronzeville Divas – Cynthia Cobb, Raven Dockery, and Sheri Williams Pannell – sings Christmas songs and spirituals from the AfricanAmerican tradition outside, with a steady fire burning to keep them warm.

Malkia Stampley wrote and performs in “When Home Calls,” an original short film directed by Chiké Johnson on homecoming, drawing on the principles of Kwanzaa. Finally, James Pickering reads all two hours plus of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.”

The “Season’s Greetings” videos can be viewed through Jan. 3.

SCREEN CAPTURE Sinclair Guice-Mendel, Elyse Edelman, Jessica Mendel and Sebastian Guice-Mendel share their family’s Hanukkah traditions in “Eight Pandemic Nights,” part of Milwaukee Chamber Theatre’s “Season’s Greetings” series.

FIRST STAGE Zach Thomas Woods is the puppeteer of Jack in the Box in “Christmastown Comes to First Stage.”