“Deck The Hallmark” reviewed by Julia W. Rath

Somewhat recommended ** “Deck the Hallmark” is based in part on the feel-good, sometimes syrupy movies that are shown by the Hallmark Channel on cable television. Unlike its more wholesome namesake, this show is chock full of sexual references and vulgarity, and the storyline is cockamamie. The show is supposed to be a comedy, and it is undeniably funny in a lot of spots. But the original script, designed for this production, is not well written. Among other things, the show is much too long: The run time is two hours with a 15-minute intermission, and it could have easily been pared down to sixty or seventy minutes with no intermission.

The premise starts out reasonably okay. We want to follow the tale of Holly Sweetberry (Karla Serrato), who is a successful businesswoman, an eager beaver who would do anything to succeed and rise through the ranks in her New York executive job. She also has a boyfriend Brad who is equally cut-throat and on a power trip. But Holly is then told by her boss that he intends to tear down her entire hometown of Humbleton in order to install a beer cheese factory on that site. So it becomes her job to go back to Humbleton and break the (bad) news to her parents, the mayor, her high school chums, and everyone else. I think you see where this is going. Holly is the modern-day female equivalent of Scrooge in “A Christmas Carol.” But unlike seeing ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future, she simply returns home to her roots. That is where she changes her mind about her life’s direction. There she meets up with her high school friend Mark (T.J. Thomas), who has opened a professional music school, and their relationship develops. She simultaneously reunites with her high school girlfriends and reconnects with her parents. It is only then that she realizes that destroying her hometown in favor of the beer cheese factory would be a disaster. Perhaps the small-town values that her parents instilled in her might not be so terrible after all. (They, of course, are Q-Anon supporters, and that part is funny—if it wasn’t so sad in an existential sense.) The Christmas theme of the show is that Holly learns to become more human and decent.

We were told in advance that when the cast would ask the audience for improv suggestions, we should not be shy and should throw ideas out at them. But when I listened to the various suggestions, it seemed as if this was all a set-up and that the cast already knew what the audience would yell out. Why do I say this? For example, one of Holly’s associates was supposed to be an engineer. The audience was asked, “What kind?” I yelled out, “Mechanical.” (Normally as a critic, I keep quiet and watch everybody else do their thing. But this time I suspected that the suggestions were being rehearsed in advance, and I wanted to test out my theory.) They took my suggestion and then did absolutely nothing with it. They could have easily rhymed it with “fanatical” or “emphatical” (both of which would have been good) or have a near-rhyme with “impractical” or “diametrical.” But no, I was off-script!

The first act was bad. Could the second act be worse? Thank goodness for the chatter in the Ladies restroom, where I overheard several conversations. “I don’t know if I like the show,” said one. Another said, “It’s actually pretty bad.” So it wasn’t just my imagination! I thought about leaving at the end of the first act, but my guest insisted that we stay, because she wanted to see how it would all turn out. Having said that, I’m glad I stayed, because the acting was wonderful. Karla Serrato has a marvelous singing voice and is a very fine actress. Sarah Lo, who plays one of her best friends from high school, is also excellent and highly entertaining. Morgan Van Dyne, who plays the other best friend, dances beautifully, but I got tired of watching just how much she was preoccupied with the workings of male genitalia; her performance was much too heavy-handed (pun intended). Tina Arfaee was very flexible in playing the Uber driver, Holly’s mother, and Santa Claus; Mitchell Fain played the mayor and Holly’s father. I also liked the cardboard cutout of Brad the boyfriend, because he was a stiff caricature of a man who is supposed to be considered successful—at least on paper (yet another pun intended). The set design is simple yet effective, and the lighting was great, thanks to the work of Abby Beggs.

The music was probably the best part. I adored the piano playing by Paul W. Thompson, the understudy music director. The original music and sound design by Jacob Shuda and Elise Wattman is nicely done, although the mix was somewhat unbalanced from the perspective of being seated in the first row, right near the piano. The one signature song near the end was a standout in that the whole cast participated in singing and dancing to the music. Perhaps what I liked so much about the songs were that they were minus a lot of the vulgarities that the actors threw in to get cheap laughs throughout the entire show.

The part of the program that my guest liked least was when the actors chose to focus on some members of the audience to the exclusion of others. In particular, there was one woman named Carrie who they made the queen of the hometown parade in the second act. My guest didn’t think this was necessary. In fact, she thought that none of the audience interaction was funny, and it unnecessarily lengthened the performance. I felt differently: Some of this banter with the audience was a needed break from a very weak script.

To my mind, the major failing of the show is this: Every other show that I have attended for the Christmas holidays this year has made at least a passing reference to Chicago in advance of the show, such that the actors said they were happy that they were finally playing before a live Chicago audience. Either that or somewhere within the script, there is some reference to Chicago or life in the Midwest. No luck here. Holly lives in New York City and her hometown of Humbleton appears to be some small community in New England or upstate New York, like Bedford Falls in “It’s a Wonderful Life.” So Chicago native that I am, I had to ask why didn’t they make Holly reside in our fair city, and then the crew could have projected still photographs of Chicago landmarks rather than New York ones? Why couldn’t Humbleton have been located somewhere in rural Wisconsin or somewhere outside of Indianapolis? I’m not being prejudiced against New Yorkers or New York (in fact, I once used to live there). But we are watching Second City, for heaven’s sake, and they are a famous Chicago troupe headquartered in this very building in the very heart of the city!

In all, the stage was pretty; the music was nice; and the acting and dancing were good. But it was a sorry performance. It could have been so much better! Although this show does contain a few references to Hallmark movies and other popular forms of entertainment, this brand new original creation falls short. It’s sad to say that in this case, Second City means second-rate. How do you spell “schlack?”

“Deck the Hallmark”, directed and choreographed by Carisa Barreca, is playing at Second City, 270 W. North Avenue, 3rd floor (Up Comedy Club), Chicago, through January 2, 2022.

Tickets are: $39-$99 for general admission, depending on the day/time of the performance.

Please check the online calendar for the performance schedule, which varies from day to day and week by week. See: https://www.secondcity.com/shows/chicago/deck-the-hallmark-a-greeting-card-channel-original-2/?tickets=&date=#schedule.

For more information about “Deck the Hallmark” and to purchase tickets, go to: https://www.secondcity.com/shows/chicago/deck-the-hallmark-a-greeting-card-channel-original-2/?tickets=&date or call the Chicago Box Office, 312-337-3992

For general information about Second City and their upcoming offerings, go to: https://www.secondcity.com/.

NOTICE: All theater patrons are required to be fully vaccinated and show proof, including ID, to attend a Second City show. See https://www.secondcity.com/network/the-second-citys-covid-19-commitment/ for more details.

To see what others are saying, visit www.theatreinchicago.com, go to Review Round-Up and click at “Deck The Hallmark”.