New Holiday Tradition

Milwaukee's holiday theater season is filled with tradition: The Rep's A Christmas Carol is staged each year within walking distance of the Milwaukee Ballet's annual Nutcracker, which again shares a roof with In Tandem's A Cudahy Caroler Christmas. This year, In Tandem's sketch comedy The Show makes a strong case for inclusion in that local holiday tradition with a yuletide program that runs through Dec. 20 at In Tandem's 10th Street Theatre.

Consisting of the comic talents of Karen Estrada, Matthew Huebsch, Jason Powell, Andrea Moser and Doug Jarecki, The Showpieces together a fun evening of sophisticated and not-so-sophisticated comedy.

The Show's Christmas program is a patchwork of both new and previously performed material. The program begins with a clever musical take on the traditional opening-curtain speech and quickly rolls into 13 other bits. There are a few forgettable sketches, but most of them are quite intelligent and charming. In one piece, Jarecki plays a hunter squaring off against a deer (played by Huebsch) in a duel of wits that quickly evolves into a philosophical discussion on the nature of love. Powell portrays a casual God passively playing with a Rubik's Cube while Joseph and Mary go through couples therapy. In a Jarecki-written piece we see what the ghosts in Dickens' AChristmas Carol are doing as each waits its turn to speak to Scrooge. The most memorable piece is "Top Bell," a brilliantly executed story of a Salvation Army bell ringer played out as a touching, heartfelt military drama. As Jarecki and Huebsch salute each other with great ceremony, they repeat the bell ringer's slogan with intense conviction: "One Bucket-One Bell."