Sioux City Journal
Thursday, December 8, 2011
First, it was Herman Cain.
Then, it was Jerry Sandusky.
Now, it's Santa Claus.
Scandal surfaces at the North Pole when one of Santa's reindeer accuses him of sexual harassment.
Yes, that's the premise of "The Eight: Reindeer Monologues," a dark holiday comedy, presented by Shot in the Dark Productions.
As the media goes into a feeding frenzy about the accusations, the other members of the sleigh team step up to share their perspectives, and a tantalizing tale of corruption and perversion emerges, which seems to implicate almost every resident of the North Pole.
With each deer's monologue, the truth behind the shocking allegations becomes somewhat murky as Dasher (Daniel Revell), Dancer (Jenny Kinzey), Vixen (Lotus Seaman), Comet (Tyrone Vaden), Cupid (Garie Lewis), Donner (Bryan Deck), Blitzen (Mandy Suing) and Hollywood (Peter Swanke) provide insights.
Hollywood? Where's Prancer? And Rudolph?
"Prancer is known to his peers as Hollywood for his career as a movie star," explained Deck, who doubles as a director and a reindeer. "Prancer has some issues with Rudolph's animated Christmas special. He sulks and has a great line in the show, 'No deer has ever been nominated for an Academy Award!'."
The audience will get a peek into what goes on behind the scenes prior to the merriest of seasons
"The show is not for kids," Deck insisted. "In fact, it might not even be for some adults."
"But if you like irreverence and raunchy, you'll like this show," added Garie Lewis, another director/reindeer.
You won't see actors dressed in reindeer costumes for this production.
"We're going with black or subtle outfits, but we will be wearing reindeer antlers," Deck explained of the presentation which has parallels with "Avenue Q," the Broadway show in which puppets -- sometimes in an unsettling juxtaposition -- swear and have sex on stage.
Deck pointed out that not all the reindeer have beef with Jolly Old St. Nick.
"At least one of the reindeer supports Santa," he said. "Santa got him off the street and making poor choices to have him part of the team."
Author Jeff Goode's satirical 1994 script has lost none of its topicality, considering what's going on in the local news. Like other sexual abuse cases, people initially don't want to believe it, Deck said.
"It will be up to each individual to evaluate the evidence and come to a conclusion," he said.