STAGE REVIEW : ‘Happytime Xmas’ Laughs at Family Holiday Traumas

Everyone needs to be able to laugh at themselves now and then, especially around the holidays. It’s a sure sign we’re going to survive. Sadly, the Me Generation seems to have forgotten how to do it.

Playwright-director Justin Tanner hasn’t forgotten. His “Happytime Xmas,” at the Cast Theatre, belly-laughs at the holiday traumas of a run-of-the mill dysfunctional family--which means most families. But he does it with a twist.

In this case, mama’s just fine. The kids are a mess. Mother Hazie (Judy Jean Berns) threw alcoholic husband Ed out of the house four years ago. Their teen-age daughter Dottie is a self-centered little snip. Stepson Drew and his pregnant wife, Candy, are even more grasping. He’s been fired and has to extend Hazie’s deadline for getting out on his own. Son Todd was pushed out of the nest long before.

Their problems might all be solved, and family love re-enter the home, when Hazie is notified that she’s finally going to be a contestant on “Wheel of Fortune,” the taping to be shown Christmas Day. The kids waste no time making up extensive wish lists. And Hazie wastes no time making some inevitable decisions, which are the big belly laughs in the evening, and won’t be divulged here. They’re words to the unwise who let their families get them down. Hazie’s Christmas morning gift to them is not what they ordered, but certainly is fair play.

Berns is a delight as the alternately brittle and understanding, but always on-target Hazie. She rides glibly over the bulldozer tactics of Drew and Candy (sharp, highly-charged comic performances by Andy Daley and Thea Constantine). Hazie all but ignores the whining and tantrums of Dottie (a very funny Laurel Green).

Harvey Perr is solid as the ex-husband, called back unexpectedly by the conniving grandmother, Lillian, played with equal flair by Jeanette Miller, who’s like most grannies who like to run things, and Maggie Murphy is perfect as Hazie’s understanding best friend. French Stewart provides a particularly witty and insightful portrait of Candy’s friend, Glenn, the youth leader at the local Baptist Church, a nerd whose dumb sincerity blasts all his efforts to be supportive.

The stylish performances and Tanner’s firecracker direction give the play the honesty that guarantees its laughs, and underline his holiday gift to his audiences, a reminder that no matter how oppressive the trauma, it loses its power and control when faced with healing laughter.

* “Happytime Xmas,” Cast Theatre, 804 N. El Centro Ave., Hollywood. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Ends Jan. 19. $12; (213) 462-0265. Running time: 1 hour, 30 minutes.