BWW Interviews: Christmas Cabaret with Chris Tsujiuchi

Chris Tsujiuchi’s Christerical Cabaret is fast-approaching, and promises to be one of the most entertaining and festive ways to ring in the holiday season with laughs, love and funny sweaters!

In true Christerical style, Chris has been doing a serious of hilarious vlogs telling people all the various reasons to come to his show.  He makes one very funny Father Christmas.  And to celebrate the holidays, BWW is showcasing the tremendous amount of Cabaret talent we have in Toronto – including all the Christmas themed cabarets at Buddies in Bad Times! This December alone features Chris, Thom Allison and Cabaret-Goddess SharRon Matthews with her husband George Masswohl. 

First up is Chris, who talks about what cabaret means to him, what he’s done to his show to make it festive and why Dick in a Box is really a holiday song:

Congratulations on your Christmas cabaret! You’ve been doing awesome vlogs showcasing the reasons to come to your show – tell me, what would be the number reason for a BroadwayWorld reader to come to your show?

Because my Christmas Cabaret is the whipped cream on the peppermint mocha that is the holiday season. Yep. I just said that. I'm a gaylord.

What does Cabaret mean to you?

The way I describe my version of cabaret to people is that it’s the middle ground between a concert and a musical; it's pop covers, mash-ups, medleys and parodies driven by story, like a musical, but with more audience interaction. It can be topical, it can raise questions and start dialogues, it's comedy, it's music...sometimes it's even a choreographed dance or two. wait!

How do you tweak your normal cabaret style show to make it festive?

My goal with the Christmas show is to capture as many aspects of the holiday season as possible - both in story and in song - without singing too many songs that everyone is sick of hearing because they’ve been overplayed on the radio, in malls, etc. I like singing songs like "Dick in a Box" for example. It's a Christmas song. Think about it.

Can people who don’t celebrate Christmas enjoy this show as well?

A lot of people who come out to the show every year don't celebrate Christmas, and still have an awesome time. I'd like to believe that the themes I present in the show are rooted in my own experiences at Christmastime, but are still accessible to all. We all know how it feels to want to get the perfect gift for a special someone for example, or what it is to spend New Year's Eve alone...

We’re seeing a lot of Christmas cabarets this year from some of the city’s great talents including SharRon Matthews, Thom Allison and yourself.  Will you attend any of the other shows? Is this a Christmas Cabaret takeover?

Unfortunately, I'm taking a trip to NYC in December and will not be accompanying Sharron and George at what I'm sure is going to be an AMAZING SHOW, but if my director lets me out of HAIR rehearsal, I'll definitely be at Thom's show. A takeover?? Hahaha I guess it could be!

What is your favourite classic Christmas song? Favourite comedic Christmas song?

O Holy Night, and Justin Bieber's version of the little drummer boy feat. Busta Rhymes. I don't think it's meant to be comedic, but that sh*t is hilarious.

Will there be any special guests making appearances at your show?

The amazing SharRon Matthews is making a special guest appearance on December 7th, as is the fantastic Jenni Walls on December 8th. (There may be some other surprise special guests turning up...)

Both performances will feature my four back-up singers; Stacey "mistletoe" Maroske, Hilary "winter wonderland" Wilson, Colin "Claus" Asuncion and Vaughn "ho ho" Harris. Also, my FANTASTIC band: Michael Mulrooney, Matt Marcoccia, Mark Godfrey, and Jamie Bird.

Finally, have you been naughty or nice this year?

It definitely depends who you're asking, but I'm gonna go with nice.