Playwright: book and lyrics by Terry Abrahamson, music by Michael Carlson. At: National Pastime Theater at the Old Speakeasy, 4139 N. Broadway St. Phone: 773-327-7077;$25. Runs through: Dec. 31
There are lots of stories associated with Christmas: Mary and Joseph, the angels, the kings, the shepherds. Then there are their folksy companions, Santa Claus and his entourage, not to mention the pagan solstice rites with their botanical accouterments ( holly, mistletoe, ivy, etc. ) . Hannukah, howeverthe eight-day Jewish "Feast of Lights" that falls confusingly close to all these other festivitieshas only a war, a lamp and a toy to inspire fanciful tales.
Renaissance-man author/musician Terry Abrahamson addressed this disparity in 2010 with a children's book titled Hannukatz Saves Hannukah, proposing a poor family led by an unsuccessful inventor ( among his failed projects is a doorbell that plays Leonard Cohen ) whose children resent not receiving costly presents like their peers. Ah, but on the first night of the holiday, a visitor arrives at the housea six-foot-seven wisecracking feline who teaches the sullen boy and girl the true meaning of Hannukah.
Since a play is usually more fun with music, by 2011, the "Ha-Ha-Ha-Ha-Hannukatz" had become a guitar-strumming specter announcing himself in a Jerry Lee Lewis-tempo ditty proclaiming him a big "macher-fast-talker-alter-cocker-gabby-flabby-tabby" ( "ain't no afikomen I ain't found" ) . Other selections in Abrahamson's pop-infused score include the siblings' defiant "Hannukah Sucks!," a country-tinged "Open A Can of Potch-In-Tuchas" ( "whup-ass", to us goys ) and an Aretha Franklin-styled "When The Lights Go Out" belted forth by Miss Menorah Jones. For the grown-ups, there are lyrics rhyming "eat-knishin'" with "circumcision," and for the kids, a reggae song about the universality of peeing in your pants. Gentiles in the audience will welcome the playbill's glossary of Hebrew and Yiddish termswe even get a song instructing neophytes in vocalizing the uvular hiss ubiquitous to Ashekenazic languages.
Abrahamson's hip sensibility and penchant for puns ( "out in the desert where the shvitz hits the fan" ) make for 80 minutes of fast-paced wholesomeand astonishingly educationalfun. Forget aesthetic distance! After only a few minutes of the five enthusiastic young cast members gushing smiles and warmth at face-to-face conspiratorial range under Brian LeTraunik's high-energy direction, don't be surprised if you find yourself grinning like, well, a Cheshire cat.