NPR listeners got their first taste of humorist and radio commentator David Sedaris back in 1992, when he debuted with his darkly comic holiday tale “The Santaland Diaries.” The essay,  which was adapted into a one-act one-man show by renowned Broadway director Joe Mantello in 1996, has become a holiday classic. Mantello’s adaptation will soon make its way to the Toledo area thanks to the efforts of the Glacity Theatre Collective.
The play, which examines Sedaris’s experiences working as an elf in Macy’s SantaLand, is set to open Nov. 27. The production features veteran actor and founding Glacity member David DeChristopher. Cornel Gabara is directing for the company.
“This is a piece I was very familiar with before I decided to take on the role. I suggested it to the other members of the company as something we might want to consider doing,” DeChristopher said. “I can really relate to it as an artist who has had every awful job imaginable along the way, and because of the whole love-hate relationship with the Christmas season that I think a lot of us deal with. Deep down, it’s just a really honest, refreshing piece of writing.”
DeChristopher contributes a Toledo-themed crossword puzzle to Toledo Free Press.
“The Santaland Diaries” runs Nov. 27-29, Dec. 4-6 and 11-13 in the Valentine Theater’s Studio A, located at 410 Adams St. All evening shows begin at 8 p.m. Sundays are 2 p.m. matinees. Tickets are $20. The Dec. 6 performance is “Pay What You Can.”
For more information, call (419) 242-2787 or visit the group’s Web site at www.glacity.org.