Watching “Mistletoe and Mayhem: The Hallmark Parody of the Season!” was a strangely familiar experience because it was again the Christmas season, with Just Us Theater, on the Phoenix Theater stage, doing a parody of a Hallmark Christmas movie, with the same director, eight of the same cast members (nine if you count a voice over artist who was physically in the cast last year), and even a lot of the same set design (though, to be fair, if you’ve seen one Christmas village, you’ve seen ‘em all). So, it was sort of like watching last year’s Just Us Theater holiday offering, “I’ll Be Home for Kahless: The Hallmark Parody of the Season!” except without all the Klingons this time. If you enjoyed “Kahless” last year but wondered why someone was getting their Star Trek tropes all over your Hallmark Christmas Movie tropes, then the straightforward Hallmark-only vibes this year may make for an even more enjoyable romantic comedy time at the theater. If the Klingons were the big draw for you last year, then this Klingon-free Christmas tale may have a few too many Earthlings for you. But give it a try anyway. After all, the Hallmark parody element was half the fun last time, and that’s still very much present in this year’s outing.
“We must make her feel the full force of our unrelenting cheer!”
In fact, I’m referring back to last year’s review just to make sure I’m not spending this whole review just repeating myself. Because many of the strengths of last year’s production pop up yet again. Director Jami Newstrom is back, as is her production design, impressively preserved and recycled as the completely different Christmas village of Snowberry Falls, which celebrates the season a good ten months out of the year (taking only a brief break for the high heat of summer, then right back into it). The townspeople are VERY into the lifestyle choice of holiday cheer, as they explain in song for the big opening musical number, topped off with an impressive extended high note from Christopher Harney as Mayor Kringle, belting it out like the guy wants a bigger part next year. (And based on his zeal this year, he probably warrants one.)
“No, I don’t hate Christmas. I just resent its optimism.”
All this relentless cheer is under investigation by Victoria Steele (Dawn Krosnowski), an executive from the big city visiting to quantify the elements of Snowberry Falls’ charms, to see if they might be replicated franchise style, like holiday amusement parks or tourist traps, around the whole country. Of course, she’s staying at the cozy local inn under the watchful eye of proprietors Hank and Betty Evergreen (Tim Uren and Sarah Broude) and their handyman son Nick Evergreen (Samuel Poppen). That repeated family unit is expanded this year with the addition of Grandma Twinkles Evergreen (Lana Rosario), who expresses herself in malapropisms and random splicings of recognizable advertising campaigns, and moonlights as the town fortune teller.
“Names are just hats for the soul.”
Jared Reise is once again stalking this story’s female exec, but this time as Chad, her inevitable metropolitan boyfriend who must now compete with the small town charms of Nick the handyman to be Victoria’s chosen suitor. Mickaylee Shaughnessy does double duty as Marcy, Victoria’s snarky personal assistant, and Carol, vigilant guardian of the town’s Christmas event schedule (and Betty’s nemesis). Samantha Fairchild Poppen joins the returning members of the ensemble as Joy, another Snowberry Falls townsperson, relentlessly cheerful, but who also continually thinks someone is calling for her when the word “joy” is used in conversation; she hopefully continues to appear, and then is repeatedly crestfallen when she realizes they weren’t thinking of her after all.
“That is horrifying, and oddly on brand.”
There’s almost a dozen less people involved in this Hallmark parody, but as you can see from the rundown it’s still a sizeable cast that more than fills the stage. Lighting designer Andrew Vance and costume designer Heajo Raiter are both back again lending their talents to the affair as well. To round things out, there’s voiceover work for unseen characters from Bridget Foy, Nathan Gerber (last year’s “stagehand” reluctantly drafted into the cast at the last minute), Jeff Neppl, and Laura Ann Whitehead; and Holly Ness manages all these many spinning plates as the stage manager of the production.
“It’s mostly chaos and baked goods.”
The primary difference from last year (other than the sci fi elements, of course) is that the script is more of an ensemble effort. Director Jami Newstrom has also taken on the playwriting duties this year, with the nine person cast listed above as her collaborators - sort of like having a writers room full of comedians to punch up the jokes and keep them rolling, which they do. There’s no narrator this year, which means there’s less distance from the characters and the story this time around, less outside the plot looking in, more of an opportunity to get lost in the story.
“There’s always a goat.”
You’d think that with a smaller cast size and less off-world elements to juggle, plus no narrator, there might be a bit more room for character development, but that doesn’t seem to be what the group-developed script is aiming at. It’s very funny, but it often straddles the line between laughing WITH the characters and laughing AT them (having fun along with them vs. having fun at their expense, commenting on the action rather than fully being inside the action). However, it’s a parody, so that comes with the territory. It was just sometimes hard to know whether the production was treating the audience that way as well - “don’t get invested in this story, it’s a silly story, all these stories are silly, snap out of it.”
“My cookies tell the truth, much like my poetry.”
Since Just Us Theater keeps returning to this genre to generate new material, it seems this parody still comes from a place of love and appreciation, rather than contempt. They’re poking fun, but it’s still an homage rather than a full-on satirical takedown. Given all the mean-spiritedness permeating the world outside the theater walls these days, it’s nice to escape for an hour and a half or so to Snowberry Falls and have a laugh. If you’re looking for a new holiday show to add some variety to the traditional fare, you should check out “Mistletoe and Mayhem.”
“Enough fake snow to clog a septic tank!”
Just Us Theater’s “Mistletoe and Mayhem: The Hallmark Parody of the Season!” is running through this Sunday, December 12, 2025 at the Phoenix Theater (2605 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis, MN), with Thursday, Friday and Saturday performances at 7:30pm, and matinees on Saturday and Sunday at 2pm. There’s a link for tickets at the Phoenix Theater website
4 stars - Highly Recommended
(Dawn Krosnowski as Victoria and Samuel Poppen as Nick in Just Us Theater’s production of “Mistletoe and Mayhem”; photo by Steve Aggergaard).