‘Happytime Xmas’ Gives Santa’s Nose a Gentle Tweak

The holidays get a gentle jabbing in Justin Tanner’s “Happytime Xmas,” opening tonight at the Cast Theatre. “It’s a love story--in a very perverse way,” said Rosemary Forsyth, who plays Hazie, a harried single mom-waitress contemplating her still-at-home adult offspring. “After bringing them up, what’s right for her now? What is she going to do with her own life? Christmas time has just brought everything to a head.”

The actress (whose credits include the film “Shenandoah” opposite Jimmy Stewart, and four years on “Days of Our Lives”) is quick to point out the differences between this play and Tanner’s “Zombie Attack!,” which is playing concurrently at the theater. “Sure, it’s a little off the wall,” she admitted. “But mostly it’s a gentle push/pull. I think it’s like a lot of Christmases we go through with our families. Oh, I imagine some people have absolutely wonderful relationships with everyone in their family . . . although I rather doubt it.”

BUSY SCHEDULE: In another religious corner: “Hanukkah Lights,” an original musical theater piece by the four-person Shpielers (The Players) runs today and Dec. 24--three performances daily--at the University of Judaism’s Gindi Auditorium.

“The message is that Hanukkah means more than gifts and getting,” said the Shpielers ‘ Cindy Paley Aboody. “But it’s not just a children’s entertainment; we wanted to bring in the whole family. As our story opens, Mac and the Beas (in lore, the Maccabees), have become very assimilated, talking about decorating the Hanukkah bush. It’s very Christmas-y. Then they’re sprinkled with anti-confusion dust, and learn the real story of Hanukkah: that it’s all right to be different--and to celebrate that religious freedom.”

BACK TO THE BENEFITS: “Everything is donated, and nobody is being paid,” announced David Galligan, who’s directing the holiday AIDS benefit “Because We Care,” Monday at the Mark Taper Forum.

The program (presented by the Center Theatre Group’s artists, staff and crew) will feature Brian Kerwin in a reading of Lanford Wilson’s “A Poster of the Cosmos” and 15 members of “The Phantom of the Opera” cast singing the music of Leonard Bernstein. “Every time someone picks up a paper, they read about a $500-per-person fund-raiser,” Galligan noted. “I don’t know anyone who can afford that. But this is $25 and $50 (including reception). I understand that a lot of people are benefitted-out. But we’ve got to do something.”

For tickets, call (213) 972-7392. Proceeds will benefit the “Hollywood Helps” program of The Actors Fund. Audience members are also asked to bring non-perishable food items for AIDS Project LA’s “Necessities of Life” program.

THEATER BUZZ: Tony Nunzio and Tina Vitale aren’t the only ones getting coupled at “Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding.” Cast member Leila Kenzle--who plays stripper Madeline Monroe, girlfriend of Tony’s oily father--has been doing some informal matchmaking, trotting prospective males over to single ladies, saying, “Don’t you want to date this handsome guy?” Kenzle’s efforts have resulted in at least one post-show rendezvous; the happy couple called to thank her for the matchmaking success.

CRITICAL CROSSFIRE: “Mystery of the Rose Bouquet,” a two-character study by Manuel Puig (“Kiss of the Spider Woman”) is making its American premiere at the Taper. Robert Allan Ackerman directs Jane Alexander and Anne Bancroft as nurse and patient.

Said Dan Sullivan in The Times: “In Puig’s opinion, what we really want is someone to talk to. And to pretend with . . . There’s a heavy use of the subjunctive mood: memories, nightmares, fantasies--here’s where the rose bouquet comes in--and daydreams.”

Comparing “Bouquet” to “Spider Woman,” Daily Variety’s Kathleen O’Steen found a “compelling factor” missing in the latter. “Instead, Puig seems intent on building layers of deception that ultimately lead to few conclusions.”

Drama-Logue’s Polly Warfield applauded “an elegant pavane for two slow and stately dancers, dancers on the point of a needle. This is a minimalist excursion, a tale told in muted tones--in monotone with staccato punctuations.”