It’s time to get “Homo” for the Holidays with Ben, Dina, Judy Garland, and other assorted Hams.

Oh, my…it’s that time of year…every alternative/fringe/cabaret/burlesque/drag performer in town is preparing for their holiday themed shows including the return of some beloved favorites and many of them are starting their runs this week. There is a TON to talk about, so let’s get started!

The 2009 cast of “Homo”.

Returning for the third “straight” year is Ben DeLaCreme’s delightful romp, “Homo for the Holidays” with an all-star line-up of acts and special guest stars. Here’s what they’re promising us:

HOMO FOR THE HOLIDAYS is a hearty holiday fruitcake packed with
dancing reindeer, sexy sugar cookies, ghostly visitations, a Chanukah pageant for dummies, and new ways to define coming home. It’s not Christmas in July, it’s Pride in December! Light your menorah, stuff your stockings, and join our chosen family in celebrating our favorite wintry holiday of all, HOMO FOR THE HOLIDAYS.

Featuring Local Sensations:
* BenDeLaCreme * Fuchsia FoXXX *
* The Cherdonna and Lou Show *
* ilvs strauss * Paris Original *
and via Satellite, Ms. Honeysuckle Hype
with a different special guest each night, including:
Indigo Blue, Sarah Rudinoff, Nick Garrison, Waxie Moon, Sylvia O’Stayformore,
Victor Janusz, and The Shanghai Pearl

Thanksgiving Day, Thursday November 25
Friday November 26
Saturday November 27
The First Day of Chanukah, Thursday December 2
Friday December 3
Saturday December 4
Christmas Eve, Friday December 24
all shows at 8pm

Location: West Hall, OddFellows Building 2nd Floor
915 E Pine Street, Capitol Hill
Full bar in West Hall by The Tin Table
Call 206-320-8458 for dinner reservations before or after the show.

Tickets: $15 in advance, $20 at the door
www.BrownPaperTickets.com/event/135531

And, the HoliGay season wouldn’t be complete without a visit to Re-bar and an evening with internationally acclaimed sensation, Miss Dina Martina. And, that’s not hyperbole…the Divine Dina is playing shows EVERYWHERE now including London, NYC and a gig in January in Los Angeles. Our girl is getting big! (Figuratively and literally…) Joining Miss Dina for her 45th annual Xmas Show will be her beloved accompanist, Stranger Genius winner Chris Jeffries. Except lots of mangled songs lyrics, bizarre sentence structures, ill-fitting costumes exposing hairy backs, and considerable amounts of headache inducing laughter. The Dina Lovetrain starts this Friday, November 26 at 8pm at Re-bar, 1114 Howell Street at the foot of Capitol Hill for the first of 26 shows playing through December 31. These shows sell out! Seriously! Book tickets NOW to get the night that works best for you.

The Sequim Gay Men’s Chorus (clockwise, from bottom: DJ Gommels, Peggy Platt, Lisa Koch, Michael Oaks) Photo by Heather Trimm.

Local comedy queens, (biologically, one of the few local “queenly” acts that can legitimately claim the title…) Peggy Platt and Lisa Koch who perform as Dos Fallopia return with their 72nd annual holiday show, “Ham for the Holidays: Wham Bam, Thank You Ham!” with guests, DJ Gommels and Michael Oaks. Here’s what you should know:

Wacko sketch mavens Lisa Koch and Peggy Platt celebrate 20 years of comic togetherness with the latest incarnation of their cult holiday show, chock full of dysfunctional characters, cheesy costumes, and more wigs than Cher. This year’s show features a cornucopia of questionable taste:

*Country duo The Spudds offer up Mama’s version of a biblical epic with “Spuddacus”

*Game show “Deck the Pauls” features panelists Ru Paul, Rand Paul and Paula Abdul, hosted by Sir Paul McCartney

*Choral music meets the Undead in “Night of the Living Glee”

*Granola duo Mud share their new eco-friendly invention

*The tiny Sequim Gay Men’s Chorus sing with Pride

“Ham” opens TONIGHT, Wednesday, November 24 with a half price preview and runs through December 24 at Theatre Off Jackson, in the International District, (409 7th Ave South, aka, 7th & Jackson). Check these hilarious ladies OUT!

The real McCoy: Judy in her 1963 Christmas Special.

Also returning for its umpteenth installment is Open Circle’s “The Judy Garland Christmas Special” starring the iconic Troy Mink as everyone’s favorite gay icon in a scarily realistic recreation of Judy’s actual 1963 television holiday special. (I’ve seen the original; it’s AWESOME!) With appearances by her kids, Lorna, Joey and that other gay icon, Miss Liza Minnelli and enough schmaltzy but glitzy corn to sink the Titanic! It all starts Friday, November 26 and runs through December 18 at Open Circle Theater, 2222 2nd Ave, 2nd Floor in beautiful Belltown.

Those are just the long run fringe shows for the holiday season…there are tons of one-off shows as well and I’ll work up a post about those!

Check’em all out! It’s a Holly, Jolly Xmas, as usual!

– Michael Strangeways