Graphic by Yolanda Fundora
(SUMMIT, NJ) -- Vivid Stage celebrates the Holiday season with a unique annual event. For almost 25 years, the company has marked the holidays in the least serious way possible, with A Very Special Special. This Holiday variety show takes place on Saturday, December 6, 2025 at the Oakes Center. Showtime is 8:00pm.
This variety show will feature songs, sketches and improv that spoof and pay homage to traditional holiday shows and characters with a cast of ten performers. Vivid Company members Laura Ekstrand, Noreen Farley, Dave Maulbeck and Scott McGowan will be joined by guests Ciara Chanel, Joshua T. Crockett, Sarah Cuneo, Mike Sause and Alisha Sheth. Eddie Guttman accompanies the show on piano.
Sketches include the return of Candy Cane, North Pole Therapist, who is ministering to the stressed-out residents of the busiest place on earth at the holidays. Elves, the ultimate seasonal employees, contemplate searching for jobs in a tough market. Post-holiday gift returns are portrayed with a twist. Musical selections embrace the unexpected, from Taylor Swift to Barry Manilow to Jimmy Fallon. A Very Special Special is a great complement to the more traditional holiday fare available at this time of year, and just as full of fun.
A Very Special Special will appear at the Oakes Center on Saturday, December 6 at 8:00 pm. Tickets are $28, $23 for seniors and $18 for students 25 and younger. Tickets are available for purchase online. Oakes Center is located at 120 Morris Avenue in Summit, New Jersey. The venue is wheelchair accessible; assisted listening devices and large print materials are available upon request.
Vivid Stage was founded in 1994 as Dreamcatcher Rep, and is a non-profit professional ensemble of actors who build community with the audience by sharing contemporary, life-affirming stories that challenge, energize and entertain. Their work has at its heart a belief in the essential goodness of people and the power of live performance to connect people through our shared humanity. They expose theatregoers to ideas and lives like and unlike their own with the intention of awakening their imaginations and creating empathy for others. They deepen the experience of all their patrons with personal contact through receptions, talkbacks, and interactive programs.
The company’s activities include mainstage productions, improvisational comedy and cabarets, new play readings, works in a variety of media, and a menu of educational and senior outreach programs.
Vivid Stage’s programs are funded by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Union County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs, the Shubert and Summit Foundations and many other corporations, foundations and individuals. Vivid Stage is an Equity Producing member of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance.
Vivid Stage, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) corporation, incorporated under the laws of the State of New Jersey.
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