You saw her last when she was just two. Celebrate the holidays with Cindy Lou Who. Pull up a seat and fill up your cup. 'Cause your favorite little Who is all grown up.
Theater Wit, Chicago’s “smart art” theater, is ready to place a bold, brassy star atop Chicago’s holiday entertainment tree with the Chicago premiere of Who’s Holiday!, about a booze-guzzling, cigarette-smoking, adult Cindy Lou Who reminiscing about the night she first met The Grinch, November 26th-December 26th.
Theater Wit’s new seasonal comedy, written by Matthew Lombardo, directed by Christopher Pazdernik, and starring Chicago favorite Veronica Garza as a 40-something Cindy Lou Who, is a wildly funny, yet heartfelt adults-only comedy about the twisted turn of events her life took after her Christmas Eve encounter with a green furry outcast attempting to burgle Whoville of its holiday cheer.
Who’s Holiday! arrives in Chicago not without controversy. In 2017, Lombardo was locked in a legal battle with Dr. Seuss Enterprises over accusations of copyright infringement, delaying the play’s New York premiere for nearly a year. Ultimately, a U.S. District Court ruled in Lombardo’s favor, citing his depiction of an adult Cindy Lou Who living in a beat-up trailer in the snowy hills of Mount Crumpit as “fair use.”
Freed of litigious red tape, Who’s Holiday! went on to be hailed “brassy, very funny…a raunchy riff on Dr. Seuss’s yuletide tale” (New York Times) that “dares to be as tasteless as possible while replicating Seuss’s trademark rhythms” (Time Out New York
(from left) Veronica Garza will portray Cindy Lou Who in Theater Wit’s Chicago premiere of Who’s Holiday! by Matthew Lombardo, directed by Christopher Pazdernik
Now Cindy Lou Who is parking her mobile home in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood, ready to deliver a hilarious new, adults-only alternative to the usual holiday seasonal treacle.
Tickets to Who’s Holiday! are $20-$35, and are on sale now at TheaterWit.org or by calling the Theater Wit box office, (773) 975-8150.
Previews of Who’s Holiday! are Friday, November 26 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, November 27 at 8 p.m.; and Sunday, November 28 at 3 p.m.
Press opening is Monday, November 29 at 7 p.m.
Regular performances are Friday, December 3 at 7 p.m.; Saturday, December 4 at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.; Sunday, December 5 at 3 p.m.; Thursday, December 9 at 7 p.m.; Friday, December 10 at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.; Sunday, December 12 at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Wednesday, December 15 at 7 p.m.; Thursday, December 16 at 7 p.m.; Friday, December 17 at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.; Saturday, December 18 at 3 p.m. and 9 p.m.; Sunday, December 19 at 7 p.m.; Tuesday, December 21 at 7 p.m.; Wednesday, December 22 at 7 p.m., Thursday, December 23 at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.; and Sunday, December 26 at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.
Theater Wit is located at 1229 N. Belmont Ave., in the Belmont Theatre District in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood.
Note: Everyone (including audience members) at Theater Wit is required to be vaccinated to enter the building. Each audience member over 11 years of age must show proof of vaccination at the door for admittance. Electronic photos and copies are acceptable. If you are unable to be vaccinated for any reason, you may show negative results from a PCR test for COVID-19 administered in the last 48 hours as an alternative. Unvaccinated patrons must remain masked for the duration of their visit. Visit TheaterWit.org for more details.
Behind the Scenes of Who’s Holiday!
Veronica Garza (Cindy Lou Who, she/her/hers) was last seen at Theatre Wit in Underscore Theatre’s Tonya and Nancy: A Rock Opera. She received a Jeff Award for her role as both Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan's mothers. Other roles include Roz in 9 to 5 (Firebrand), Sister Amnesia in Nunsense (Milwaukee Rep), Babs in Miracle (Royal George), Prudie in Pump Boys and Dinettes (Theatre at the Center and Timberlake Playhouse), The Homeless Lady in A New Brain (Theo Ubique), Lucy in A Charlie Brown Christmas (Broadway Playhouse) and the Fortune Teller in Sideshow (Porchlight).
Christopher Pazdernik (director, any pronouns) is making his Theater Wit debut. In Chicago he is best known for three seasons as Artistic Director of Refuge Theatre Project (Jeff Awards, Best Director and Best Production of a Musical, High Fidelity) and a long association with Porchlight Music Theatre, including directing eight Porchlight Revisits productions and three years working in producing, casting and company management. Currently, he is the Managing and Casting Director for Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre, where he will direct Godspell later this season. Also an openly HIV+ artist, Pazdernik is the founder and producer of Belting for Life, an annual benefit concert for Howard Brown Health, and co-captain of Team Option Up! for AIDS Run/Walk Chicago.
Theater Wit’s Who’s Holiday! production team includes Angie MIller, set; Shelley Strasser, lights; Uriel Gomez, costumes; Lonnae Hickman, props; and, Denise Savas, stage manager. Jeremy Wechsler is Artistic Director at Theater Wit.
Matthew Lombardo (playwright, he/him/his) Broadway: High with Kathleen Turner at the Booth Theatre and Looped starring Valerie Harper in a Tony-nominated performance at The Lyceum Theatre. Off-Broadway: Who’s Holiday! (with Lesli Margherita) at the Westside Theatre; Tea at Five (with Kate Mulgrew) at the Promenade Theatre; Mother and Child (with Ann Wedgeworth) at Second Stage; End of the World Party at the 47th Street Theatre (director) and Guilty Innocence at The Actors’ Playhouse. His work has been produced at such prestigious theaters as Hartford Stage, Cleveland Playhouse, American Repertory Theatre, Seattle Rep, Arena Stage, Pasadena Playhouse, Cincinnati Playhouse, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and others. Television credits include Another World (WGA Award Nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Writing). As a producer, he has presented concerts throughout the country for Broadway legends such as Carol Channing, Patti LuPone, Tommy Tune, Bernadette Peters, Barbara Cook, Billy Porter, Betty Buckley, Andrea McArdle and Faith Prince.
What’s next at Theater Wit?
Hurricane Diane
- A Chicago premiere!
- by Madeleine George
- directed by Jeremy Wechsler
- starring Kelli Simpkins
- Opens June 2022
(from left) Madeleine George, Jeremy Wechsler and Kelli Simpkins
Theater Wit favorite Madeleine George (Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England and The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence) returns for another collaboration in this Chicago premiere of her hilarious evisceration of society’s blind eye to climate change, even (or especially) in our own backyards.
Sure, Diane may be a charming butch permaculture gardener, but she’s also the Greek god Dionysus returned to the modern world to avert the coming apocalypse. And where better to begin than with four housewives in a New Jersey cul-de-sac?
“Madeleine George’s fantastic, heartbreaking Hurricane Diane is a comedy in the most ancient, expansive sense...plying us with laughter until we’re tipsy, then lovingly, ruthlessly slipping in the knife. Hilarious, shattering, and full of keen observation and profound human affection, the play both lifts us up and wrings us out.” - The Vulture
About Theater Wit
Theater Wit, Chicago’s “smart art” theater, is located at 1229 N. Belmont Ave., in the Belmont Theatre District in Chicago’s Lakeview community. Theater Wit is a major hub of Chicago’s neighborhood theater scene, where audiences enjoy a smorgasbord of excellent productions in its three, 99-seat spaces, see a parade of talented artists and mingle with audiences from all over Chicago.
To purchase tickets, a Theater Wit Membership or to inquire about Flex Pass options, visit TheaterWit.org, send email to info@theaterwit.org, or call the Theater Wit box office, 773.975.8150.