A Beer Carol
Written and Directed by
Sean Benjamin and Steve Mosqueda
Haymarket Pub & Brewery, 737 W. Randolph (map)
thru Dec 19 | tickets: $15 | more info
Check for half-price tickets
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O’ holy bearded tattooed snake woman!
Drinking and Writing Theater presents
A Beer Carol
Review by K.D. Hopkins
The guys from Drinking and Writing Theater are sending a carol of hoppy malted love to the connoisseurs of witty and intelligent storytelling and spoof. Together with the fabulous Carolyn Shoemaker and one-man band John Szymanski, you can expect an hour of whiplash quick humor and nostalgia for old radio shows. This is the story of Bud Miller of Milweiser Brewery who force feeds piss water beer to dulled hipster palates to show his contempt for craft beer. A Beer Carol is done in radio serial style with pitches for Haymarket Pub and Brewery thrown in as well as farcical commercials for Milweiser.
Sean Benjamin is the Scrooge-character Bud Miller that hides a painful past as a clown college dropout scarred by his carny upbringing and his first love leaving him for a craft brewer (gasp!). Benjamin, Mosqueda, and Shoemaker hearken back to Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca with outrageous scenarios and one-liners.
Four ghosts representing the ingredients of beer visit Milweiser. His former business partner, Jacob Weiser, is accompanied by rattling beer cans and bottles instead of chains. The story unfolds and the journey from a childhood in the carnival to swill brewer takes hilarious twists and turns.
Steve Mosqueda’s portrayal as The Ghost of Hops makes a sly reference to being the cousin of cannabis. Mosqueda gets some great shots in calling Milweiser’s beer “pinche”, which basically means crappy and defective.
Carolyn Shoemaker is a comic tornado as Miller’s bearded, tattooed snake woman mother who gives love advice. She also portrays the Tiny Tim character to aw-shucks perfection. It’s Jackie Cooper on speed and it’s tinkle-your-shorts funny. I want Radio Theater to make a comeback just to showcase her voiceover chops!
The writing and performances are sharp; you have to be on the ball and observant to get all of the references. There is a lot of drinking in this show but, of course, that is one of the building blocks (and first word) of Drinking and Writing Theater. Benjamin and Mosqueda have created a fresh genre built on the memories of great hard drinking news writers such as Mike Royko. If this were 1970, the air would be thick with cigar smoke and the smell of cheap beer and whiskey.
Thank the law and heaven that smoking is banned and craft beer is king. A Beer Carol is an hour filled with laughs and quirky versions of Christmas music. You may have a strange urge to check into Clown College and drink good beer during the show. Just go with it.
Rating: ★★★
A Beer Carol continues through December 19th at Haymarket Pub & Brewery, 737 W. Randolph (map). Tickets are $15, and are available at BrownPaperTickets.com (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com). More info at DrinkingAndWriting.com. (Running time: one hour, no intermission)
artists
cast
Sean Benjamin, Steven Mosqueda, Carolyn Shoemaker, John Szymanski
behind the scenes
Sean Benjamin and Steven Mosqueda (writers, directors, and beer connoisseurs)
12-1154
