A Tuna Christmas

Comments (0) By Lee Williams Thursday, Dec 9 2010

It’s been a few years since Joe Sears and Jaston Williams, the creators (along with Ed Howard) and actors of the Greater Tunaseries, brought the Tony Award-nominated show A Tuna Christmasto Galveston, but the wait will be worth it. The 1989 Christmas show about the third-smallest town in Texas is being remounted with new sets, new costumes and new blocking.

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But fans shouldn’t worry about the changes — all the good jokes are firmly intact. Sears and Williams still play all the characters in the raucous play that takes place the day before Christmas. The story centers around one of the town’s most important annual events: the Christmas yard-decoration contest. Problem is, a phantom is vandalizing the entries.

Among the zany and now familiar characters is Vera Carp, head of the Smut Snatchers. She’s hoping to win the yard decorations contest for the 14th year in a row. There’s also Didi Snavely, who runs a huge weapons store (“If we can’t kill it, it’s immortal,” she says) and her husband R.R., Tuna’s resident UFOlogist. They’re joined by Stanley Bumiller, an up-and-coming taxidermist who’s just come home from reform school, and Elmer Watkins, who lost his eyebrows in a tragic flameshooter incident, among a host of others. 8 p.m. The Grand 1894 Opera House, 2020 Post Office, Galveston Island. For information, call 409-765-1894 or visit www.thegrand.com. $13 to $50.
Dec. 14-19; Jan. 4-9, 2010