Actress and stand up comedienne Sheba Mason of New York captivates audiences at Empire Stage in Ft. Lauderdale as Cindy Lou Who in “Who’s Holiday”, a 60 minute one act comedy, running now through December 15.
Audiences may fondly remember Cindy Lou Who as the then young child in the musical “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” that has been playing on television as a holiday favorite for over three decades. Written as a humorous one woman comic sequel to “The Grinch” by Matthew Lombardo, the playwright portrayed the one time innocent Ciny Lou Who many years later as a 30 something woman.. Cindy now lives in a Christmas trailer in Whoville, has been married, divorced, pregnant, had a child with The Grinch and had several brushes with the law that led to some prison time..
While this story does not sound humorous at face value, it really is a comedy, especially once audience members get over the shock that Cindy is a lot wiser, sometimes an optimist, but is really a more believable character than the original Cindy Lou Who ever was.
Sheba Mason honed her skills of performing twenty plus years in stand up comedy superbly in the 60 minute play. Speaking in rhyming couplets, Mason teased the audience about inviting many guests to her holiday parties and asked the audience to join her in buffering the disappointment she suffered when the guests never show up.
As Cindy Lou, Mason selects a man “Doug” from the audience to join her on stage for some good natured ribbing, such as noting that Doug was sitting with another man, noting “that you probably prefer the company of another gender to mine at this party” drew lots of laughs, especially when Mason pointed out that Empire Stage is located in Wilton Manors, known for its large gay oriented population.
What follows are a lot of Cincy Lou’s adventures that, despite making her miserable, also make her more candid, raunchy and humorous. Among other facts we learn from the older Cindy Lou Who is some of the less than perfect characteristics of The Grinch and some of the other characters from Whoville.
Along with comedy, Mason does offer lots of sentiment as the audience also sings Cindy Lou’s favorite Christmas songs. Despite Cindy Lou’s up and down life, Mason does not ever make Cindy too dark a character to be enjoyed. Despite all of Cindy Lou Who’s flaws, Mason’s Cindy Lou Wise is still playful and an optimist.
Along with Mason, lighting and set designer Preston Bircher and scenic painting by Larry Buezza gave the bright spirit needed with the colorful set in setting the mood for the story. Director Ian Wehrle guided Mason and the behind the scenes personnel to create an impressive funny play perfect for adults who look at Christmas in a different mode than children.
Following her performances in “Who’s Christmas”, Mason will be in South Florida doing stand up comedy at Boca Black Box later this month and will be starring in “The Jackie Mason Musical” in January at The Movies of Delray that chronicles the story of her late father, comedian Jackie Mason. To learn more about Sheba Mason, go to shebamason.com
Actress/comedienne Sheba Mason stars in the one act, one woman 60 minute comedy “Who’s Holiday” by playwright Matthew Lombardo, running now through December 15 at Empire Stage, 1140 N. Flagler Dr. in Ft. Lauderdale. Tickets are $35. For tickets, go to empirestage.com or call 954-678-1496.
