Nebraska Rep stages Sedaris' 'Diaries'
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By JEFF KORBELIK / GZO
In April 2007, David Sedaris performed to a sold-out audience in Lincoln at the Lied Center for Performing Arts.
The turnout affirmed Sedaris’ place in popular culture, proving he truly is a modern-day Mark Twain.
The Nebraska Repertory Theatre, hoping to play off Sedaris’ popularity, will stage the essay that launched the humorist’s career, “The Santaland Diaries,” with Rep executive director Paul Steger in the starring role.
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What: "The Santaland Diaries," Nebraska Repertory Theatre
Where: Studio Theatre, Temple Building, 12th and R streets
When: 7:30 p.m Thursday, 7:30 and 10 p.m. Dec. 12-13 and 2 p.m. Dec. 14
Tickets: $20, $18 UNL faculty/staff and senior citizens, $10 students; 472-4747
Notes: Play contents mature content and is not intended for children 12 and under.
The Rep begins a six-performance run of the one-man, one-act play Thursday at the Studio Theatre in the Temple Building. Rep artistic director Virginia Smith directs.
“It’ll be really fun to do a Sedaris piece,” Steger said. “He is so intelligent and witty.”
“Santaland,” adapted for the stage in 1996 by Joe Mantello, is Sedaris’ true account of working as a SantaLand Elf at Macy’s in New York City during the holiday season.
Sedaris first read his essay in December 1992 on National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition.” The piece gave Sedaris — now a regular contributor to Public Radio International’s “This American Life” — his big break.
He later published the essay in collections “Barrel Fever” (1994) and “Holidays on Ice” (1997).
Steger performs his part in a plush green Santa outfit, accented with funny yellow elf shoes and equally funny pointy ears.
Sedaris is known for his razor-sharp wit, keen observation skills, self-deprecation and an amazing knack for satire. “The Santaland Diaries” is a prime example of it.
The play’s plot is built around the musings of a single character, “a writer” who begins the piece by scoffing at a classified ad for seasonal employment as an elf at Macy’s.
A newcomer to New York, the writer has not achieved the fame and fortune he had dreamed of, and is forced to take the elf job to cover his rent.
As “Crumpet,” his elfin alter ego, the writer shares his experience, from introspective ramblings to over-the-top outbursts to biting mean-spirited descriptions.
The humor — as is the case with most Sedaris stories — is complemented with a meaningful message about the holidays.
“There really is a touching part to it,” Steger said. “The Rep tries to do these kind of pieces. They’re smart, well-written, but still have a heart to them.”
This is the third straight year the Rep has presented an intimate, heartfelt show for the holiday. Chicago actor and playwright Tom Mula performed “Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol” the past two years.
Steger said the Rep plans to bring “The Santaland Diaries” back again next year.
“We want to stay fresh in people’s minds during the course of the year, not just in the summer,” he said, referring to the Rep’s three-play summer season. “We want to do something that pleases our audience base and will draw new people.”
For Steger, it will be his first stage performance since returning in July 2005, when the University of Nebraska-Lincoln named him the Rep’s executive director and department chair of the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film.
“I’ve been taking care of business,” he said. “There’s been plenty to do.”
Since returning, he’s overseen a major theater renovation, a school dedication to Johnny Carson and the Rep’s revitalization.
Now it’s time to play.
Steger was last seen on a Lincoln stage in February 1999, portraying Mercutio in “Romantic Rhapsody” — a “Romeo and Juliet” collaboration by the Lincoln Community Playhouse, Lincoln’s Symphony Orchestra and the Lied Center for Performing Arts.
The performance came on the heels of his first stint at UNL as a theater professor (1990-98). He is known nationally for his expertise in stage combat.
“One of the things I like is that Paul is really a physical actor,” said “Santaland” director Smith. “He’s taking what I had known before as a completely original piece and physicalizing it. It’s been really fun.”
She’s also enjoyed working with her supervisor, whose resume also includes stage and screen work in Los Angeles, Chicago and his native St. Louis.
“We are actors and directors, both of us” Smith said. “We’re happiest and most creative when we’re in the rehearsal hall.”
Reach Jeff Korbelik at 473-7213 or jkorbelik@journalstar.com.
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