Christmas With Joe Iconis: How the Songwriter's Annual Holiday Extravaganza Is Marking Its 14th Anniversary

For well over a decade, Tony-nominated songwriter Joe Iconis and his merry band of performers have spread yuletide cheer at 54 Below during his yearly Joe Iconis Christmas Extravaganza. As Iconis and Family gear up for this weekend’s 14th edition of the show (December 13), Iconis took the time to look back on the history of the spectacular and share how hard — but rewarding — it is to put together.

What inspired you to create the Joe Iconis Christmas Extravaganza, and how has it evolved in the 14 years since its inception?
I’ve always had an unironic love of Christmas specials of stage and small screen. The Pee-Wee’s Playhouse Christmas Special is among my favorite pieces of art ever, yuletide or not. As a child, I fantasized about having a Christmas special of my very own. In college I’d go to see Charles Busch’s Times Square Angel, performed annually at Theater for a New Audience, and imagine doing something similar if ever given the chance.

The Extravaganza — then called the Spectacular, a name that was altered after a cease and desist from Radio City in 2015! — was first performed as a one-night concert at Ars Nova in 2008. It was basically just a typical Iconis & Family concert with some Christmas covers thrown in and one or two scripted moments. I think we had 10 people in the cast which, at the time, was the biggest show I had ever done.

It’s grown every year. More songs, more characters, more extravaganza. The show is now a full-scripted musical pretending to be a concert. There are characters that only exist in the world of the Christmas show and, this year more than ever, songs written specifically for the show. Writing the script is basically writing a new full-length musical every year.

Can you share some favorite moments or performances that have stuck with you?
Annie Golden, as the Rock and Roll Christmas Angel, sings the penultimate song, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” every year. I’ve known Annie as long as I’ve been working professionally in the theater, and I can measure my life in her performances of that song. It’s a moment that is so special to me, and every year I watch her sing it and feel like the luckiest man in the whole world.

I also loved the first time we ever did drunk Mrs. Claus [Lorinda Lisitza] and depressed Santa [Jason SweetTooth Williams]. They were the first scripted characters I ever wrote for the show, and they really opened up my mind about what the Extravaganza had the potential to be.

The show features a mix of your signature style and holiday classics. How do you approach blending those two elements in a way that feels unique every year?
I have a natural affinity for art that mixes highbrow and lowbrow sensibilities, so the show has real uptown/downtown vibe. There can be an absolutely filthy exchange between the Krampus (Lily Tobin) and Cyril Von Miserthorpe (our villain, played by Will Roland) one minute, and then a full-blown google-eyed production number that wouldn’t be out of place in a theme park production of 42nd Street the next. I like the tension of smutty material that feels wholesome and vice versa. The Christmas show is also a really nice opportunity for me to write material that is in conversation with present-day America. I wouldn’t go so far as to call the Extravaganza political theater, but I think it has more to say than you might expect.

As previously mentioned, I’m a massive Charles Busch fan and the sensibility of the show is partially inspired by Vampire Lesbians of Sodom or Psycho Beach Party. My biggest thing is that the show isn’t cynical and it’s never ironic. We’re never winking at the audience. Everything comes from a genuine love of the characters, holiday traditions, and of scrappy, DIY theater. I’d like to think that the Extravaganza is the best “show you put on in your backyard with your friends” of all time.

You work with a close-knit group of performers regularly. How does that camaraderie shape the vibe of the Extravaganza each year and the characters they all rotate in playing?
We’re like a big rep company. Some people swap roles from year to year based on availability. Some people swap roles for the hell of it. With each edition it becomes harder and harder to come up with new characters and material. At a certain point I always think to myself, “Have I said everything I have to say about Christmas? Am I tapped out?” And then I am, inevitably, inspired by my brilliant family of collaborators. The performers, for sure, but also the creative team, led by director John Simpkins and producer Jennifer Tepper. The work they do on this show is incomprehensible.

People don’t realize how gut-wrenchingly hard it is to make these shows, from the planning to the rehearsing to the performing. You have to be deeply insane to keep doing it because it gets more and more impossible every year. But there’s just something in me that can’t stop. All I ever wanna do is make art that I believe in with people I love. The Christmas Extravaganza provides me the most batshit opportunity to do just that. How could I say no to that?

What can audiences expect from this year’s show at 54 Below, and are there any surprises or special guests we should be excited about?
I can’t give away any secrets but I will say that we have a brand-new opening this year that I’m excited about. It’s our first new opener since 2009.

As per usual, I’ve written a few lines that may get me sued, so people can be excited to either be scandalized or delighted by those.

In general, the show is definitely the most “anything can happen” performance that I do all year. Because the show involves so many people (between onstage and backstage, I think we’ve got 60+ people working on the show?) the show is rehearsed piecemeal in incredibly well-planned chunks. I would not wish the scheduling of Christmas Extravaganza rehearsals on my worst enemy. This is all just to say that because of the nature of his this beast is rehearsed, the only time we are ever able to run it with the full cast is during the performance. There are always surprises and, often, they are surprises that people talk about for years to come.