XMAS! 4: Shalom Alone

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XMAS 4! Shalom Alone Poster

XMAS! 4: Shalom Alone was the fourth performance of XMAS!, in 2009. It follows the story of Ollie Klausberg, a pubescent Jewish boy from New Jersey who is informed at his bar mitzvah that he must travel to North Pole City and take the job of his mentally unstable grandfather, Santa Claus. With the encouragement of his pagan friend Amethyst, he encounters the disgruntled residents of North Pole City--including a reindeer suffering from a case of mistaken sexual identity, three catty French Hens, a girl named Mary who just wants to lose her virginity, and an intern elf struggling to earn some respect--and, one by one, fixes their problems with his naive optimism and holiday spirit. Throw in Santa's right hand man (a malicious and conniving elf who feels he's owed the top job after 300 years of thankless labor), a dancing Kwanzaa robot, Ollie's frantic Jewish mother, the Nordic explorer and affluent penguin fighting both to help her find her son and win her heart, and a surprise visit from Charlie Brown, and you have the secular spectacular that is XMAS 4: Shalom Alone!

Creative team

  • Director: Ameneh Bordi
  • Writers: John Goodwin and Nina Pedrad
  • Composers/Lyricists: Matt Star and Ben Weiner
  • Producers: Cody Haefner and Rebecca Lewis
  • Choreographer: Pat Blute Meredith Kirk
  • Art Director: Cayle Pietras
  • Stage Manager: Becca Leifer
  • Costume Design: Ramsey Scott

Cast (in order of appearance)

  • Ollie Klausberg: Brian LaPerche
  • Karen Klausberg: Ilana Rice
  • Amethyst: Emily Feinstein
  • Marty the Elf: Reni Calister
  • Prancer the Reindeer: Zach Lundin
  • Cosette the French Hen: Elizabeth Varner
  • Colette the French Hen: Emily Drinker
  • Claudette the French Hen: Hannah Kloepfer
  • Mary the Virgin: Emily Wallen
  • Joe the Intern Elf: David Offit
  • Ernest P Shackleton: Brooks Morelock
  • Santa Claus: Michael Abraham
  • Preston P. Pennington: Alex Hare
  • Kwanzaabot: Alia Munsch
  • Charlie Brown: Michael Seaman

Musical Numbers

  • OLLIE'S LAMENT [1]
  • NORTH POLE CITY DAY [2]
  • CAPTAIN SHACKLETON [3]
  • STUD [4]
  • CAPTAIN SHACKLETON REPRISE [5]
  • MARY'S LAMENT/KWANZAABOT [6]
  • NORTH POLE CITY NIGHT [7]
  • ANGRY PEOPLE IN TOWN GET ANGRY [8]
  • FINALE [9]

Critical Reception

  • Bwog Review [10]
  • Spec Preview Article [11]
  • Catholic League Protest Article [12]
Preceded by
XMAS! 3: North by Northpole
XMAS! Performances 
2009
Succeeded by
XMAS! 5 A Corporate Carol