Nutcracker…Not!

Looking for Christmas entertainment that’s off the beaten path? Nancy Cranbourne and Patti Dobrowolski, last seen together in these parts at the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art Theater in their hit show 2 Women Avoiding Involuntary Hospitalization, have been coerced into a holiday followup at BMoCA, based on the same characters but with a little help from some friends. The Christmas Peril: A Hormonal Holiday, through December 17, is all about what happens after Cranbourne and Dobrowolski sell the movie rights to 2 Women, become “semi-rich and famous” and move to Hollywood.

Dobrowolski sets the scene (which is, mind you, completely fictional, though the two women say they are playing a sort of Lucy-and-Ethel rendition of themselves): “We’ve been caught making illegal Internet investments using people’s money from the City of Boulder and are court-ordered to do a community-theater performance of a play written by our parole officer’s nephew, Howard.” Dubbed Colorado Cowboy Country Christmas, it’s a musical within a play: “It’s a different kind of Christmas romp other than The Nutcracker.” That it is, but it’s still a crackup.

Cranbourne and Dobrowolski can’t sing, so they’ve had to add five cast members who can. “We work on the show with them, and they’re all supposed to be very bad,” Dobrowolski says. “But actually, they’re much better actors than we are.” And, Cranbourne notes, working with a seven-person ensemble has been a positive experience: “You’re like a team on a sailboat. Theater is a labor of love. When the whole family’s together, you want to move and groove with them — they’re our little champs. This gave us a chance to extend our family.”

And they’ve learned new skills. “The shows have stretched us,” Dobrowolski says. “Nancy’s doing more business things than before — and I ended up drinking a lot more coffee than normal.”