Ann Citron directs Kimberly Kay in Santaland Diaries’ rehearsal at the Rosendale Theatre. (photo by Dion Ogust)
Who could ever have guessed that David Sedaris would become a holiday icon? Discovered by National Public Radio talent Ira Glass in the early 1990s while performing in Chicago clubs, the North Carolina-raised son of a Greek IBM engineer made his first splash with his radio memoir of working a stint as a Macy’s store elf in 1992 on This American Life. He has since gone on to become a regular New Yorker contributor, as well as the author of a stream of humorous and popular memoirs in which he plays up the oddities of his own life.
The Santaland Diaries, meanwhile, has taken on a life of its own, via Sedaris’ annual performances of the expanded piece, as well as a one-person play based on the travails of “Crumpet the Elf,” adapted by noted Broadway theatre director/creator Joe Mantello (Wicked).
This increasingly popular holiday show is being performed locally at the Rosendale Theatre this Friday and Saturday, December 7 and 8 at 8 p.m., and Sunday, December 9 at 7 p.m., with Kimberly Kay playing the penniless gay would-be soap opera writer hired to play an elf at Macy’s flagship store in New York. Learn all about elf-hiring, elf-training, elf camaraderie and who gets to play Santa in this benefit for the Rosendale Theatre Capital Campaign.
Kimberly Kay in The Santaland Diaries, December 7 & 8, 8 p.m., December 9, 7 p.m., $15, Rosendale Theatre, 408 Main Street, Rosendale, (845) 658-8989, www.rosendaletheatre.org.