Rockin', Man

 12/4
Here's an alternative to those saccharine, Normal Rockwell painting-esque, Currier-&-Ives scene-like Christmas festivities. Hanukkah, you ask? Nope. Kwanzaa? Nuh-huh. Los Posados? Not hardly. It's still Christmas. It's just a modern, cynical, world-weary kind of Christmas. And also a spray-your-hair and shake-your-booty kind of Christmas. But, hey, at least it's not the 17th A Christmas Carol, 11th Nutcracker or seventh Frosty the Snowman, right? So, WaterTower Theatre offers a substitute for the normal stuff while still not straying too far from the manger. Returning for a fourth year is Rockin' Christmas Party, a singing and dancing tribute to chart-topping music from the '60s, '70s and '80s. The soundtrack ranges from Motown girl-group hits to Madonna's "Holiday" and The B-52s' "Love Shack" performed by several returning cast members, a few newbies and a live band. Also returning is Nye Cooper as Crumpet in the David Sedaris (as adapted by Joe Mantello) story The Santaland Diaries, in which Sedaris recounts a Christmas spent as a 30-something, out-of-work actor employed as a department-store elf, who endures taunting by disrespectful parents, vomiting kiddies and belligerent Santas. The new addition is PUNCH DRUnK Comedy's holiday review called Flocked, which spikes the eggnog with sketches and songs about binge drinking, murderous yard decorations and other fa-la-la-laughable situations. The latter two involve adult language, so kids should stay at home to watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas...again. Rockin' Christmas Party, in the main theater, previews at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, opens 8 p.m. Friday and runs through December 21 with performances at 7:30 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $25 to $35. The Santaland Diaries, in the Stone Cottage, previews 8 p.m. Thursday, opens 7 p.m. Friday and runs through December 21 at 8 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sundays. There will be no performance December 7. Tickets are $15. PUNCH DRUnK Comedy's Flocked, in the main theater, runs 10:45 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, December 5 through December 20, plus 8 p.m. Monday, December 15. Tickets are $10. All three productions take place at the WaterTower Theatre's home at the Addison Theatre Centre, 15650 Addison Road. Call the box office at 972-450-6232 or visit www.watertowertheatre.org. --Shannon Sutlief