Mr. Whitekeys finds plenty to lampoon in Christmas show - even outside Spenard

A sold-out crowd welcomed "Christmas in Spenard" on Tuesday, which was opening night for the show's first-ever run outside its funky namesake neighborhood.

At least sort of: Mayor Ethan Berkowitz officially proclaimed the corner of Fourth Avenue and E Street as Anchorage's "North Spenard Annex" during the show. There goes the neighborhood.

Although the performance space seems much more spacious than the one at the Tap Root, the number of seats (183) is identical. At first glance, the room feels less intimate,  but the performers' confidence and professionalism ably decked the hall with their cheerfully sleazy message. It was just like a show at the Tap Root, minus the obstructed-view tables and crowded bench seats.

Mr. Whitekeys and crew produced the usual howl- and sometimes wince-inducing blend of music, politics (mostly national), local personalities, holiday zaniness, unfortunate newspaper typos and pictures of animals (some of which were urinating when photographed).

Durable numbers like "That's What Christmas Means To Me," "The Neiman Marcus Catalog Song" and "Viva Spenard" were mixed with new songs generally unencumbered by good taste. For example, a duo called The Christmas Sisters (Merry and Jiminy, played by Regina MacDonald and Cameron Morrison) crooned tunes like "I'm Dreaming Of A White Supremacist."

Their spin on "The Little Drummer Boy" – illustrated on three screens – had audience members shrieking in horror and/or amusement: "He is your president Tr-um-pum-pump/He likes his daughter's gorgeous rum-pum-pum-pump/Melania flashed us with her rum-pum-pum-pump…"

"Christmas in Spenard" featured plenty of other political jabs, most of them national. In an interview, Whitekeys claimed to have had a show written and ready on Nov. 7 but the next day "had to throw it away and start over – we weren't any better at predicting (the election outcome) than anyone else."

Thus he lampoons Donald Trump and wife Melania, and Republicans, a lot, with just a few pokes at Hillary Clinton and at local politicians. Surprisingly, little bile was expended on recent Alaska elections. Maybe our homegrown Democrats, Republicans and Others just aren't dumb enough these days.

Or maybe it's because of something Whitekeys said in "The Ballot Box Follies" some years back: "I vote for the funniest candidate." Certainly Trump is a candidate who makes his own gravy, comedy-wise. Morrison's performance of the president-elect was spot-on and at times unnerving, all smacking lips and squints and booming interruptions of anyone who happened to be talking.

One issue with the larger space is costume changes take longer. At the Tap Root the dressing room was about 6 feet from the stage. Not so at the Hard Rock, where performers have to run the equivalent of half a city block. Whitekeys fills those gaps with musical interludes, solo routines and, yeah, pictures of bears and birds peeing.

About half the evening was devoted to standard numbers and routines, familiar to anyone who's ever seen "Christmas in Spenard."

As always, the crowd doesn't seem to mind the repetition. Audience members were primed to shout "Wassail!" or clap along with the "Bethel(Ahem)" bit. If you're not willing to watch a twerking Paula Deen (MacDonald) sing about breakfast cereal or fight with Richard Simmons (Morrison) about the bacon-vs.-broccoli lifestyle, this probably isn't the show for you.

But then you'd miss watching those delightful performers playing Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Judge Merrick Garland for a bit called "The Man Who Was Never Confirmed" (sung to the tune of the Kingston Trio hit, "The Man Who Never Returned"). One of the funniest moments of the evening was a mere aside, as Whitekeys asked Garland, "You're a judge?" (Yes.) "Honest?" (No – the other kind.)

That's a vaudeville routine so old it wears a grizzled beard. Yet the joke still worked, because of its rapid-fire delivery and because of the performers' refusal to either punch up the line or to wait for the reaction. No one lingers for a laugh here; he just keeps going.

In fact, all Whitekeys productions are vaudevillian. Performers throw a whole lot of song and dance and jokes at the audience, knowing at least some of it will shtick.

Donna Freedman, a former Anchorage Daily News reporter and reviewer, blogs at DonnaFreedman.com.

CHRISTMAS IN SPENARD continues through Dec. 28 at the Hard Rock Cafe, 415 E St. Show time is 7 p.m. Tickets are $22.50 and $27, available through CenterTix.net (907-263-2787).