'Santaland Diaries' returns

Jon Putnam talks about becoming a career elf for annual CATCO showcase

By Dwayne Steward

Metromix

Every year, in malls all over the country, thousands of unwilling employees put on fake pointy ears and the typical red- and green-attire for the various holiday attractions that are about to open. They're attractions created to keep children at bay while their parents spend away.

For his first job in New York City (as a struggling writer, well before his current status as a nationally renowned author and playwright), David Sedaris worked as one of these lowly elves. He wrote about all of the crazy happenings in a journal he kept during his time there, which later became the basis for his aptly titled script, "Santaland Diaries." It was turned into a one-man play that has become a tradition of its own here in the Capitol City, thanks to the Contemporary American Theatre Company. 

Every year since 2005, Jonathan Putnam (CATCO's associate artistic director) dons the candy-caned striped tights for a four-week holiday run of the show. Metromix chatted with Putnam about the play's history in Columbus and the reasons behind his devotion to the popular role.

"Santaland Diaries" has definitely become a Columbus tradition, much like BalletMet's "The Nutcracker." Was that the intention when CATCO debuted the play four years ago?
No, not at all [laughs]. We originally did the show with a companion piece, another one-man show, and we called it "Season's Greetings." It ended up being a hit, so we brought it back. It was originally in a bigger stage, but now it's in a cabaret-like setting in the smaller Studio Three [of the Vern Riffe Center]. 

You've been starring in the show for the past four years. Has it gotten old, or do you still love it as much as the first time?
I love it. It's such a great script. Hopefully I'm getting better at it every year [laughs]. A lot of the people who attend the show are Sedaris fans; it's great feeding off that energy. It's really fun. The nice thing about it is that I get to find new stuff in the script that I didn't notice before and make necessary tweaks of things that didn't work the year before. It's the same character, but you try to make it better.

Why haven't you ever passed the torch to another actor?
It's basically because I know it [laughs]. I also think the audience enjoys my performance. It's also just easier that way, as opposed to teaching another actor the whole thing; it's just a lot simpler to have me do it. 

You're the only person in a show that's more than an hour long. Is it more difficult to do a one-man show rather than a typical show with multiple actors?
It's harder. I'm sort of acting with the audience as opposed to acting with other actors. It sort of has elements of it being standup.

"Santaland Diaries" runs for a good four weeks. Does it become tedious?
It's long [laughs]. The show runs Thursday through Sunday, and on Fridays and Saturdays I do two shows. I end up doing six shows in four days, but I've learned how to get through it. It starts out with, "Oh, God, I have to do it again," but once it starts I really get into it.

So at this point do you even have to rehearse? Or does (director) Geoff Nelson just send you out on stage when the show first opens?
[Laughs] Yes, we rehearse for about a week. Originally we rehearsed for four weeks to prepare for the opening. But we still need to hash out things. [Nelson will] remind me of things I've forgotten, and maybe add suggestions for tweaks. He's definitely still very much involved.

"Santaland Diaries," starring Jonathan Putnam, opens 8 p.m. Thursday Dec. 3 and runs through Dec. 27 in Studio Three of the Vern Riffe Center. Tickets are $34.50 and can be purchased by calling 614-469-0939 or visiting the CATCO Web site.