There’s a moment in A Very Merry Misfit Cabaret (through December 23 at the Alcazar Theatre, SF) when pixie hostess Candysprinkles (Misfit Cabaret co-founder Kat Robichaud) lambasts sad-sack Brendan (music director and pianist Brendan Getzell) for playing a segment of “The Christmas Shoes” during their opening medley. Candy says she moved from the South—nay, the North Pole—to get away from the song’s annual ubiquity there, and came to San Francisco where most people have never even heard it.
She’s right: in the four-plus decades I’ve lived and walked the Earth, I can only recall hearing the song one other time, and that was last year’s version of this same show. From what little I’ve gleaned, that’s as much as I want to hear of the song.
As we take one further step toward the end of an incredibly tumultuous year (both on and off of Bay Area stages), it helps to have some simple comforts to see us through this cold, unforgiving month. Robichaud’s Misfit Cabaret has always been good at providing an escape, producing a controlled mania within its doors to counter the uncontrolled version outside. They typically only do about four proper shows each year, with a few special performances in-between.
The Christmas show is the only one that reuses material year after year (something Robichaud herself mentioned the night I saw it, when she recovered from a flub with “After six fuckin’ years of this show, you’d think I’d know how to do this shit.”), and with the aforementioned need for cold-season comfort, one can’t blame her or her collaborators for providing that comfort.
For those not familiar: we begin with good ol’ boy Brendan grabbing his guitar and lamenting his misfortune over the past 12 months; including having his car stolen the same day he was evicted, and finding out from the 23andMe breach that he’s related to Jeffrey Dahmer. It’s no wonder he’s not in the Christmas spirit. Unwilling to accept Brendan’s dour demeanor, red-haired sprite Candysprinkles arrives in peppermint-swirl leggings, flanked by two of Santa’s elves. She’s determined to up his holiday joy factor, though less for his sake and more to keep herself from being demoted to elf status. Thus begins Candy’s quest to entertain Brendan through holiday irreverence.
This includes singing some established holiday classic as a variety of acts—including rising local burlesque star Qu’in de la Noche (a regular at DNA Lounge’s Hubba Hubba shows) and aerialist Elise Southwick—performs in a way that would soften the Scroogiest of hearts. But Candy’s efforts are occasionally thwarted by puppet Gremlins (created and operated by Shadow Circus Creature Theatre founder Dave Haaz-Baroque), Krampus (KaiKai Bee Michaels), and a slide show reminding us that the Star Wars Holiday Special is a thing that exists.
The aforementioned Gremlins and Star Wars songs are regular parts of the show and are featured on Robichaud’s 2020 album A Darling Misfit Christmas. The show includes other songs from the album, as well as new tracks Robichaud wrote exclusively for this version of the show.
No one will ever say that Misfit Cabaret is lacking in talent, but where this year’s show missteps is in its timing. Robichaud is still the perfect ring mistress of the circus-of-her-own-making, but this year features a bit too much vamping, which throws off the flow.
For instance, given Candysprinkles’ encyclopedic knowledge of Christmas songs, it’s inevitable that she’ll get to that Mariah song eventually. When she does, she performs the slow-burn open not as a recitation of lyrics, but as a series of indecipherable vocal cascades. That works perfect in satirizing the ubiquity of Carey’s song and the self-seriousness with which mega-stars take themselves.
That same drawn-out vamp doesn’t work as well for Robichaud’s own songs. In fact, it almost seems like she’s extending them to buy time for some unknown delay. Moreso, if you’re already familiar with the regular songs, the change of their flow is jarring. The Star Wars song isn’t just drawn out, it’s interrupted by an entirely different song performed by Johnny Rockitt in a Boba Fett suit. Rockitt is as entertaining a performer as anyone on the Cabaret stage, but sticking a Chris Isaak-style Boba Fett track in the middle of Robichaud’s hilarious takedown of Lucas’ folly is a mash-up that just doesn’t work. Rockitt’s performance could have come right after without hurting the show’s narrative at all. Again, it’s good, it just shouldn’t be at that point.
Despite saying that proof of vaccination would be required, there are no more vax checks before entering the show – which already gave a shrug to any sort of mask enforcement. (I was, maybe, one-of-five patrons masked this particular night.) I once again sat on the side, near the door of the Alcazar’s performance auditorium. The house wasn’t full, but I was still glad to have my portable air purifier amongst so many bare faces. Thankfully, the CO² readings on my Aranet4 weren’t the worst I’ve seen, peaking around 1186ppm, before dropping back down to 1174ppm by the end.
As usual, the show ends with Candysprinkles and Brendan singing a torch song rendition of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”, starting with the “cheerful” Sinatra redux before reprising with the original Judy Garland “downer” lyrics. It both shows off the talents of the two performers and perfectly encapsulates the show’s presentation of the Christmas dichotomy: there’s just as much reason to lament this time of year as there is to celebrate, and that song has successfully played both sides of the fence for 78 years.
No matter which side of that scale you land on, Robichaud’s annual holiday tradition remains a welcome piece of comfort food at a time when even the best can be too much to bear. It’s a glittery glass of spiked egg nog for both those snuggling up in their favorite sweater and for those who can’t wait ‘til January comes. It’s the sort of good time that reminds you how a talent like Robichaud’s shouldn’t be interrupted – not even by her.
Most importantly, it’s about as much as I ever want to experience of “The Christmas Shoes”.
A VERY MERRY MISFIT CABARET runs through December 23 at the Alcazar Theatre, SF. Tickets and further info here.
