Holiday Hotline @ Cleveland Public Theatre 12/1 Last spring, a few actors, musicians and writers opened the Dark Room, sponsored by the Cleveland Theater Collective, an experimental space where writers and performers could test stories, songs and scripts for small audiences. Back when the flowers bloomed, writer Linda Eistenstein tested some holiday songs and stories, which is now full-blown, part of a troika of satirical holiday stories at Detroit Avenue Arts on the Cleveland Public Theater complex. Eisenstein, joined by writer Michael Sepesy, present Holiday Hotline, which fits in comfortably along with Mrs. Bob Cratchitt's Wild Christmas Binge and the Santaland Diaries.

"Holiday Hotline," at the Orthodox, a converted church, starts with enthusiasm, as stressed phone operators offer call-in advice, despite their own holiday depression, singing "Help Me, Holiday Hotline." The advice gag continues, interspersed throughout the show. There are a lot of fun numbers and great singing, from opera to pop to polka, including:

- A retail store manager (Mark Cipra) evaluates the latest technology innovation to induce shopping frenzy ("You know You Want Me, Baby");
- A depressed Jesus (Andrew Narten) laments ("You're the Reason");
- An operatic mom (Kim Aldrich-Ceja) struggles with a bicycle with "some assembly required;"
- A full cast number about the burden of obligatory good cheer ("Mandatory Merriment"); and
- A Christmas Elf (Denise Astorino) offering season's wishes, with an important toast.

Michael Flohr provides the music, along with some fabricated commercials and commentary, while Director Mindy Childress kept the material moving along briskly. It's a hoot for the holidays, an indicator of what creative people can work up in a dark room. "Hotline" features terrific singer/actors, Kim Aldrich-Ceja, Denise Astorino, Mark Cipra, Mary Ann Elder, Hester Lewellen, Andrew Narten, with music accompaniment by Michael Flohr, and performs at the Orthodox at CPT, 6203 Detroit Avenue on Cleveland's Westside, through December 23rd. From Cool Cleveland reader Kevin Cronin bodwin_theatreAThotmail.com (:divend:)