For the first time in five years, J CITY Theater will open “A Tuna Christmas” by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears, and Ed Howard on Nov. 29. J CITY Theater has produced “A Tuna Christmas” on and off for the past 14 years and for some theatergoers it has become a holiday tradition.
“A Tuna Christmas” is “a marathon Christmas comedy of southern madness,” according to the theater company.
The plot: a Christmas yard display contest is heating up in the small town of Tuna, Texas. Neighbor fights neighbor for the most outrageous display of lights, Santas, Baby Jesus’ and Rudolphs. This year, however, there is a Christmas Phantom on the loose, spreading vandalism and havoc.
The show will run Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. with Sunday matinees at 3 p.m. This is a limited run and audiences are encouraged to reserve tickets due to limited seating. The show is scheduled to close on Dec. 9.
“This show is really our gift back to Jersey City”, says Executive Producer Clay Cockrell. “We have a great time doing it and our audiences love coming each year. They’ve become so familiar with these wild characters that they are sometimes saying the lines before we do. All year long people ask us: ‘ Is Tuna coming back this Christmas?’”
Two actors=22 characters
Joining Cockrell as half of the two character play is Stephen Hope, previously seen in “Apartment 3A” and most recently in “Clark Gable Slept Here.” He joined the Tuna family in 2013. Hope was a member of the original Broadway cast of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” and has appeared in countless Off Broadway, regional and touring productions over his career.
Sandy Cockrell, Artistic Director, said that the show is always a great change of pace for the company. “We pride ourselves on our motto: theater in the raw. As a production team our focus has always been on the actor and the purity of each particular story. However with ‘Tuna Christmas’ we really have to pull out all the technical stops. The comedy is found in the quick changes and the bizarre costumes and wigs…the fact that two actors are portraying 22 characters. This show is a wild and breathless ride.”
J CITY Theater is now in residence at The Barrow Mansion, 83 Wayne St., in Downtown Jersey City.
“A Tuna Christmas” by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears and Ed Howard runs from Nov. 29 through Dec. 9, Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m.
Tickets are $25.00 before Nov. 24 then $30 (Seniors / Students $25.00) and are on sale now at www.jcity.org.
