Santasia – A Holiday Comedy! is back at Sherman Oaks’ Whitefire Theatre for its 26th annual mash-up of  madcap SNL-style skits, clever Claymation videos, hilarious Broadway musical parodies, nostalgic Christmases memories, and Brandon Loeser in drag, and it hardly matter than Santasia 2025 is pretty much the exact same production as last year’s, Version 26.0 remains the best possible news for audiences seeking holiday comedy that combines R-rated language and the season’s spirit of warmth and good cheer.

Sibling co-writers Brandon and Shaun Loeser are joined once again this year by the equally talented Omar Heyward, Chey Kennedy, Rusty Locke, and Tara Jean O’Brien to celebrate the holidays with fans so fervent and legion, they keep coming back year after year for more.

Returning too are skits involving a) a very pregnant Virgin Mary, who reveals her child’s divine parentage to an unsuspecting Joseph on The Jerry Springer Show, b) a family torn asunder when Daddy inadvertently guesses what’s inside his Christmas gift box, and c) Santa’s elves protesting the diversity-promoting arrival of an ogre in their toy-making midst, to name just three.

Sprinkled into the comedy mix are musical spoofs of such Broadway hits as Chicago, its “Cell Block Tango” rewritten as “Snowblock Tango,” and A Chorus Line, whose iconic “God I Hope I Get It” now has tiny tots revealing the presents they’d like Santa to leave under their Christmas trees.

Audience members in search of near-naked male flesh (albeit not exactly the ripped bods you’ll see on the cover of Men’s Fitness) will get it again this year when the Santasia men dance Full Monty-style to Tom Jones’s “You Can Leave Your Hat On” and when the mostly male cast don Christmassy bikinis to undulate (semi-)gracefully to the oh-so-chic sounds of Dimitri From Paris’s “Stylish Girl.”

Brandon Loeser earns Best In Drag for the 26th consecutive year as both an adorable pigtailed tot with only one wish for Christmas (an Easy-Bake Oven) and a sultry nightclub chanteuse with a thing for Frosty The Snowman.

Animated Claymation segments once again include “Penguins Don’t Fly,” whose South Pole hero tries out assorted ways to prove that he too can take to the skies; “Pulp Christmas,” a foul-mouthed holiday take on the Tarantino classic, “Some Assembly Required,” which has a steadily more inebriated Dad attempting to put together a bicycle before Christmas morn; and “San Andreas Snowman,” whose Frosty-building tots find themselves at odds with the titular fault line.

The Loeser brothers recreate a family holiday tradition in the naughtily named “F!@#$ing Lights” and a certain Oscar winner named Christopher makes a guest appearance in “Walken In A Winter Wonderland.”

On a more personal note, each Santasian waxes nostalgic about a childhood Christmas memory guaranteed to evoke both chuckles and tears.

Last but not least, the evening’s grand finale has the entire cast going “Sledding” in the most inventively wild-and-crazy ride down the hill ever taken by man or sled, and no matter how many times you’ve seen it, it never fails to thrill.

Santasia 2025 is once again a Loeser family affair, with Shaun returning to direct with holiday pizzazz (his brother Brandon is co-director) in addition to designing the show’s Christmas-trees-and-lights-filled set, and choreographer Pearson-Loeser brings out the best from her six not-ready-for-Broadway “dancers.”

Musical director/composer Stacey Quinealty has whipped the cast into vocal shape, costume designer Pearson-Loeser has confectioned a whole bunch of imaginative Christmas gems (with Rose Limon providing additional costumes), and Shaun and Tania provide a multitude of holiday props.

Lighting designer Wynn Zucchero has made all of the above look even spiffier, while animator Michael Granberry merits cheers for his equal parts nostalgic/hilarious animated claymation shorts.

Santasia – A Holiday Comedy! is produced by Shaun and Brandon Loeser. Wynn Zucchero and Andrew Palmer are associate producers. Mitch Rossander is stage manager. Nora Feldman is publicist.

At twenty-six Decembers and counting, Santasia continues year after year to provide audiences with an abundance of holiday laughter (and maybe even a nostalgic tear or two).

Whether you’re seeing it for the 1st or the 26th time, Santasia 2025 guarantees you two hours and twenty minutes of unparalleled holiday hilarity and heart.

Whitefire Theatre, 13500 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks.
www.santasia.com

Note: Photos: Michael Duisenberg, Kenny Johnston

Tags: Brandon Loeser, Los Angeles Theater Review, Shaun Loeser, Whitefire Theatre