If you want your entertainment both naughty and nice for the holidays, then the Kinsey Sicks in Oy Vey in A Manger, currently playing at Theater J through December 25, might very well be your holiday treat.
For those who not know, the Kinsey Sicks are a group of acapella singers and drag divas (or as they call themselves, “dragapella” performers) who have been around (with differing cast members) since 1993. In the grand old tradition of burlesque/parody/travesty, the group revise lyrics to popular songs and set them in a vaguely-themed frame story with plenty of room for schtick, audience interaction, and genial offensiveness.
To be very clear, their patter and revised lyrics are frequently coarse and smutty, yet they sing divinely, in 4- part harmonies with trained voices that can send a musical thrill (even if one is more likely to cringe than laugh at the lyrics.) Yet the majority of the opening night audience were laughing quite rowdily at the genially naughty antics, and the garish Christmas setting, with its plethora of holiday kitsch.
The premise of Oy Vey in the Manger: four drag queens have decided to sell the home where they have lived for two millennia to cash in on gentrification. Their ancient home just happens to be the very manger in which Jesus Christ was born. Ridiculous? Yes. In the second act, the divas literally break the fourth wall, and interact directly with the audience, which is rather more fun.
While much of the show’s music involves holiday songs with revised lyrics, there were also a few non-holiday songs thrown in for flavor. A sampling of some printable holiday-song revisions: “I Had A Little Facial” (to the tune of “I Had A Little Dreidel”); “Jews Better Watch Out” (to the tune of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”): and the eternal “I’m Dreaming of A (Vanna) White Christmas”. As for revising lyrics with a political conscience, their adaptation of “Santa Baby” into a critique of immigrant policies (“Anchor Baby”) is memorable.
Highlights showing the group at their best were: “Don’t Be Happy……Worry!”, a skewering of the Bobby McFerrin hit with a stereotypical Jewish flair; “O Mio Babbino Caro”, Puccini’s soprano aria, rendered as “Jenny Craig, Feel My Sorrow”; and the most satisfying number of the evening, “Nice Jewish Girls”.
Jeff Manabat winningly plays Trixie (who looks beautiful and thrillingly hits those operatic soprano notes mentioned above) and is currently the musical director for the quartet. Baritone Nathan Marken (Winnie) trained at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and anchors the show with his superb singing and acting instincts. J.B. McLendon gains laugh mileage as the bizarre, trashy Angel while Spencer Brown, graduate of the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York, squares off this quartet as Trampolina, who just possibly delivers the smuttiest song of the night. (It’s a close contest.)
Ben Schatz (the lyricist and book author) had a previous career as a lawyer, was founder of the first national AIDS legal program, and was appointee to President Clinton’s Advisory Council on HIV AIDS.
Running Time: 1 hour and 45 minutes with one intermission
Oy Vey In A Manger plays through December 25, 2021 on The Trish Vradenburg Stage in the Aaron & Cecile Goldman Theater in the Morris Cafritz Center for the Arts in the Edlavitch DC Jewish Community Center— 1529 16th Street NW in Washington, DC. Tickets are available for purchase by calling the box office at 202-777-3210 or by purchasing them online. Streaming tickets for digital viewing purposes can be found here.
