Christmas Extravaganza packs theater, draws laughs

A few minutes after the announced show time, people were still filing into the Gold Town Theater.

Collette Costa, theater manager and mastermind behind the Eighth Annual (Russian) Christmas Bazaar that was packing the theater, was behind the theater’s front counter checking a list of pre-purchased tickets twice and sorting out the general confusion.

“Juneau needs to buy their tickets in advance,” Costa said before veering into some colorful qualifiers.

[Movie coming to Juneau explores Israel and Palestine conflict]

Once the show began, the same bedraggled energy was intact but fitting for an awesomely ramshackle show that revolved around staging a telethon to post bail for incarcerated reindeer.

An extended parody of “Glengarry Glen Ross” concluded with elves being told to ABT —Always Be Tinkering.

A carousel of guest performers, including Allison Holtkamp, Shona Osterhaut, George and Bridgett Kuhar and Rumblefish, the Off-The-Hook Honies and more.

Oddball touches that delighted the packed room abounded throughout the night.

Darth Vader performed “Imagine,” the infamously awkward David Bowie and Bing Crosby holiday duet was projected in bisected glory because of curtain placement and Holtkamp performed anti-comedy as a dour Prancer, who was revealed to actually be a marsupial.

Sample joke: Prancer has been using both Tind-dear and Grind-dear because they’re gend-dear queer.

The audience laughed hard throughout the night, and clapped hard at the event’s apparent ending.

But that was before an assortment of presents were passed into the audience and unwrapped.

Soon portraits of Elvis and Mickey Mouse clocks were triumphantly held in the air.