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Some Christmas shows are fun, some are reverent, some are spectacular, and some are safe.
Show Palace Christmas, running through Dec. 25 at the Show Palace Dinner Theatre in Hudson, has a little of all that, plus a couple of nice surprises, but even so, it winds up a yawner.
The problem isn't the cast; it's the show. Given its talent, Show Palace Christmas should be fantastic. Instead, it often feels like a dance studio recital or school pageant.
The show does have pretty dancing, interesting lighting and music almost everyone has heard . . . and heard . . . and heard.
Co-writers John Leggio and Stan Collins grouped 40 or 50 familiar holiday songs by nine themes: home, Santa Claus, rock, religion, etc. But unless you read the program closely, you can't tell that the songs are grouped, making the show seem disjointed and sometimes jarring, as when the solemn Ave Maria follows hard on the heels of a provocative Santa Baby.
The show has its moments. One is when Susan Haldeman dons a nun's outfit and reads The Night Before Christmas while the show's stars, dressed like the characters in a burlesque show school-room scene, yuk it up on the side.
Others are when Haldeman sings a heart-stopping Ave Maria near the end, five fellows give frumpy Mrs. Claus (Matthew McGee) a makeover in a sly takeoff on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and any time Sara DelBeato sings. Have someone nudge you awake for her numbers, especially the bluesy Santa Claus Is Back in Town and gospel-style Rockin' Rudolph.
A pleasant surprise is comic Candler Budd doing a literal take on Try to Remember from The Fantasticks.
The dance line does a credible, though mostly subdued job, cutting tepidly loose for a couple of numbers.
The 13 kids from Leggio's dance school were a good idea, but they're underutilized and static, adding to that school-play feel. Tom Hansen's spare set is serviceable, but without spectacle on and around it, it adds little.
Show Palace Christmas needs a good dose of sparkle and coherence to make it that special something we've come to expect from this venue.
REVIEW: Show Palace Christmas, through Dec. 25 at the Show Palace Dinner Theatre, 16128 U.S. 19, Hudson. 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and Wednesday, Dec. 9, 16, 22 and 23; 3 p.m. Sunday; 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. Doors open two hours before each show for buffet and cash bar. Dinner and show, $39.50; show only, $28.45; ages 12 and younger, $21.95 and $16.95, all plus tax and tip. Call 727 863-7949 in west Pasco; toll-free elsewhere 1-888-655-7469; www.showpalace.net