Mink Stole: OMG! It's Christmas

Everyone has a John Waters conversion moment. For me, it was as a college undergrad, when I stumbled across the eight-disc Very Crudely Yours, John Waters DVD boxset at a shop in the sleepy town of Huntsville, Texas. Until then, for me, Pink Flamingos and Divine were the stuff that legends were made of. Sure Hairspray had been kicking it on Broadway for about three years--and because of my love of Johnny Depp, I could recite every line of Cry-Baby by heart--but the less-mainstream work of Waters and his favorite actress, Mink Stole, were then largely unknown to me.

At the still impressionable age of 20 (maybe even 19), I devoured the seven films--A Dirty Shame (NC-17 cut), Desperate Living, Female Trouble, Hairspray, Pecker, Pink Flamingo, and Polyester--in the set with a healthy mixture of shock and glee. They introduced me to a sector of American cinema that had remained hidden from view. In the center of it all was Mink Stole, who deftly stole every scene she was in. With a keen sense of humor and fantastic control of her facial expressions, she brought me to tears time and time again with laughter.

Luckily, Stole is premiering her brand new holiday show, OMG! It's Christmas, at the Laurie Beechman Theatre in New York this week (Dec. 11-14). With some help from Her Wonderful Band (Glenn Workman on keyboard; Skizz Cyzyk on drums; and Dylan Kaminkow on the upright bass), she's ready to give audiences all the unconventional zaniness they'd expect from her. Songs in her set will include "Stay a Little Longer Santa," "Le Petit Tambour" (The Little Drummer Boy, in French), Tom Lehrer's "A Christmas Carol," "Pretty Paper," and "Christmas Time is Here." Also, her unique take on "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is apparently too good to miss.

For a small sampling of what you can expect from her Christmas-themed cabaret, check out this video of Stole and Her Wonderful Band performing their rendition Burl Ives' "Happy Birthday Jesus" from a concert in 2009: