Invasion: Christmas Carol puts the pleasure back in Scrooge

Yes, you do have to go all the way to West Midtown. Yup, you will be tempted by Miller Union next door and wish you made a reservation last week. But you better bet those hunger pains and hatred of traffic around Midtown will all become forgotten (kind of like Scrooges hatred of Christmas) when Dad’s Garage turns Fabrefaction into their holiday getaway.

Invasion: Christmas Carol is different every night (but I’m pretty sure the night I went was THE night, just throwing it out there). Even though it follows the structure of the classic tale of Scrooge and his not-so-welcome quest to find the joy in Christmas and humanity, it is definitely not your usual set of visitors, influences, or twists in the tale. Kevin Gillese plays Scrooge, the cynical grump with extreme sexual tendencies. The ensemble (Karen Cassady, Matt Horgan, Mark Kendall, Rueben Medina, Leslie Sharp, Devin K. Farmer) around Scrooge played everything from Tiny Tim and his family, Scrooge’s lost love Belle, Jacob “Two Chains” Marley, and those very persistant and pesky mustached gentleman that can’t take no for an answer.

And even though improv is beyond a team effort, there was one stand out. The throw-in, mystery, not decided until right before the curtain parts, character. And for the Dec. 5 performance it was Birdie, Scrooge’s old booty call, played by Tom Rittenhouse. Rittenhouse in old-lady drag led this version of A Christmas Carol down a inuendoed route filled with heart break, reality checks, and pushing the comedic quick wit of each and every one of his counterparts.

In improv nothing is more humorous than watching the characters themselves find the funny within what they are doing. Dad’s Garage constantly puts improvisers on the stage that very obviously enjoy what they do and have no fear when it comes to laughing at themselves in the moment. All in all, if this was the kind of Christmas Carol that was being produced when I was a wee little girl and begging my mother for a ticket at a holiday specific show, she would have said yes. Invasion: Christmas Carol is running until Dec. 23, check out DadsGarage.com for tickets and show information.