This show is rated X-mas!
A beautiful and bizarre burlesque Christmas show will stuff your stocking with scantily-clad elves, athletic aliens, and high-flying reindeer for six nights starting this weekend. One of the creators of the intergalactic extravaganza “Xmas Spectacular: Home for the Holidays,” opening at Bushwick’s House of Yes on Dec. 16, says that the performance is really out of this world.
“It is the most ridiculous thing you’ll ever see in live theater,” said Kae Burke, who stars in the show with her House of Yes co-owner Anya Sapozhnikova. “It’s fabulous, confusing, and really wonderful — and sexy!”
The show follows the pair as they journey to their home planet “Upstate New York” for Christmas. Along the way, they dodge a meteorite blizzard and stop on festive planets inhabited by silly and sometimes naughty characters, including a group of pain-deer (sadomasochistic reindeer), misfit drag queens, “Santercize” instructors, North Pole dancers, and Santa’s forgotten daughter.
The show also boasts aerial performances, dance numbers, and a live score that blends original tunes with Christmas classics.
This is the sixth “Xmas Spectacular” at House of Yes, but the first with Burke and Sapozhnikova in starring roles. They drew on some of their own experiences to come up with the wacky plot — Sapozhnikova is from Russia and never really celebrated Christmas, but Burke always invites her to spend the holiday with her family. The spectacular begins with Burke realizing that she has left her friend behind, and retrieving her to make it home in time for Santa’s trip down the chimney.
The immersive performance will help audiences get into the holiday spirit with eggnog, cookies, and a photo booth with old St. Nick. Guests can also get some last-minute shopping done at an intergalactic gift shop, which will hawk holiday must-haves such as space pasties.
Several other Brooklyn shows, including “Nutcracker Rouge” have recently embraced the naughty side of yuletide season. Burke said that Christmas is a much hotter holiday than Thanksgiving or Arbor Day because of glitz and glamour that comes with it.
“It lends itself to sexiness,” she said. “It’s sparkly, extravagant, and over-the-top.”
“Xmas Spectacular: Home for the holidays” at House of Yes (2 Wyckoff Ave. at Jefferson Street in Bushwick, www.house
