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The David Bowie Hepzikat Funky Velvet Flarney Solstice Spectacular, Live . . . From Space! (David Bowie's Christmas Special 1977 Network Edit) 

When: Fridays, Saturdays. Continues through Dec. 19 2009
Phone: 312-458-9083
Price: $15
nmtchicago.org
Ostensibly jumping off from David Bowie's surreal appearance on a 1977 Bing Crosby Christmas special, this high-concept parody from New Millennium Theatre imagines Bowie with his own holiday show, featuring a gaggle of androgynous glam rockers. Sam Quinn is unconvincing as Bowie, except when singing, and the variety format smells like an excuse for incarnating the popular Youtube video that uses the magic of splicing to depict Bowie and Freddy Mercury singing "Under Pressure" together in concert. Writer-director Steven Attanasie doesn't bother much with narrative or historical accuracy, filling the evening with the stardust of musical numbers and time-crumpling cultural references. Crosby's professed fondness for the Circle Jerks is an anachronism that may absolve all the others. --Keith Griffith

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hmmm...that's funny, b/c the reader LOVED this show last year...

The David Bowie Hepzikat Funky Velvet Flarney Solstice Spectacular, Live . . . From Space! (David Bowie's Christmas Special 1977 Network Edit)
When: Through 12/27: Fri-Sat 10:30 PM,
Phone: 312-458-9083
Price: $15
nmtchicago.org
Like the network variety specials it enthusiastically skewers and honors, this New Millennium Theatre Company holiday offering is held together by the thinnest of narrative threads, and the pacing can lag. Purists may be confused by the anachronism of figures like Annie Lennox and Buster Poindexter showing up for a 1977 David Bowie Christmas show, but never mind--the cast's energetic celebrity impressions are winning. Rebecca Gallagher offers a spot-on Charo, Kyle Greer is hilariously bitchy as Freddie Mercury, and Michael Sherwin out-buffs the real Iggy Pop. Sam Quinn delivers solid vocals and a flawless look as the androgynous host, while Matt Russell chews the minimal scenery with demonic glee as the putative villain, Bizarro Bowie. --Robert McDonald

they need to make up their minds and be less bipolar, me thinks

Posted by KG78 on November 17, 2009 at 2:23 PM | Report this comment

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