A Hellmark Christmas Musical Parody

When you go see a David Son original, you have to be prepared for some of the wittiest, most clever lyrics you have ever heard. From the laugh-earning “Hot Boy/Girl Summer” to the surprisingly touching solo performed by INSANELY talented physical performer Andrew Cormier, the musicality and smart wording make the score one definitely worth hearing— sung by a stacked cast, at that! Wonderful show. A ~gift~ to watch. Go see!!

A Hellmark Christmas Musical takes every familiar small-town Christmas-movie cliché and gleefully sends it somewhere much darker, stranger and funnier. The writing is sharp and current, with clever riffs on corporate culture, influencers, holiday-romance conventions and even a few winks that seasoned Edmonton Fringers may recognize. The cast commits completely to the absurdity, and the musical numbers help keep the increasingly outrageous premise moving at a terrific pace. A few jokes are stretched a little longer than necessary near the end, but this is still a wonderfully smart, inventive and very funny piece of Fringe theatre.

Oh wow, this show!! This hilarious musical was like a Christmas Hallmark movie but also a horror filled with plenty of murder! The songs were amazing and the performances were impressive. A big standout was the actor who played Nutmug, a Gollum-like goblin (who was also a drug addict?). Live musicians played the music on stage. Very, very funny!

This show was fun and and the characters were fantastic! They had some great funny moments throughout the show. The cast was so dynamic and vibrant I loved seeing them perform. The Hallmark theme was spot on and the songs were excellent. Highly recommend!

Who doesn't love a little taste of Christmas in August? Hellmark, a Christmas musical parody follows business woman Krystal Frost (Francesca Scarpella) going back to her picture perfect hallmark hometown. However instead of Christmas magic and winter festivities, horrors begin to take over the town. This show is absolutely full of plot twists, incredibly crisp choreography, hilarious jokes and innuendos, and so much energy the whole time. The original songs for the show are so beautifully written and scored, and the performances from the actors were jaw dropping. The vocals that the whole cast possess is a reflection of both raw talent and hard work. Even though they do an excellent job of being down right hilarious they are able to convey the agony and the emotions of all the characters in a way that allows the audience to truly feel their pain. Overall this show continues to be sold out for a very good reason, it's funny, it's witty and packed full of talent, absolutely a must see.

Too bad about the venue. Couldn’t see alot of it but show was funny and entertaining and singing was so good. Great cast. Highly recommend it but get there early to get seats up front.

All I wanted while I watched the Sunday night performance were my fuzzy slippers and blanket and a glass or two of wine on my couch. The parody of any Hallmark movie was spot on and I loved the campy characters and textbook plot line. It was a great ensemble cast who could all sing. A great song at the end summed up a bit of a topsy turvy plot.

A hilarious and delightfully twisted take on the classic Hallmark Christmas movie! This show turns the typical feel-good holiday romance into a full-on horror-esque adventure, with plenty of laughs along the way. The cast had great energy, impressive physicality, and strong singing throughout. A fun, quirky, and unexpected Christmas experience that puts a wonderfully dark spin on a familiar holiday formula!

Fyi for schedule planning: It does run closer to 75 mins than 60 mins!

I was sold at "Christmas Musical Parody", and this absolutely delivered! The songs, dancing and effects were great, and I loved the numerous local jokes thrown in. I was laughing throughout the entire thing. The actors work so well in their roles, and you can tell they are having a blast up there. The plot does kind of go off the rails a bit at the end and gets a little convoluted, but that didn't detract from my enjoyment of the show. This was perfect for Fringe. If you've managed to get a ticket for this one, you are in for a treat!

Like another reviewer mentioned, what this production suffers from is the venue - I was in the very last row (alas, I had to sprint from another show and was only able to get in line towards the back and there were no other seats left when I got inside), and there were a few instances where I either couldn't see what was happening at all, or I had to really strain to see. The stage also felt a little cramped for some of the musical numbers/people on stage at times. If this show had a bigger stage with better sightlines? Five stars all day, every day.

Wow!

I was really impressed by this show!

The singing, the choreography, the story! One of the best shows I've seen this year at Edmonton Fringe!

Saw their Saturday show and I haven't laughed that hard in a really long time. The story is insane in the best way possible. The entire ensemble cast could all sing and dance. The music was extremely catchy. Highly recommend if you can still get tickets.

I really enjoyed it. It was funny. It stayed a lot more Parody in the beginning, then kind of went off the rails. Acting is quite good.

I went into a midnight performance of Hellmark completely blind, and was pleasantly surprised. It had all the hallmarks of a classic fringe comedy musical: a standout cast, hilarious jokes, and a surprisingly good original score. It's no shock that this run is completely sold out, it has all the makings of a fringe holdover.

This production prospers from a strong ensemble cast. Strong vocals compliment strong comedic ability. The notable comedic performances of this production include Ali Foster-Balloun, Andrew Cormier, and Jeremey Zimmerman.

Where this production suffers is the venue. The Grindstone-run FOH PRO Stage does its best to pack as many seats as possible into a tiny venue, so don't expect to see most of the action onstage unless you happen to snag a centre seat in the first couple of rows. Also of note, this 60-minute production runs closer to 75-minutes, which could be solved by cutting down some of the (stellar) songs which run a little longer than they should.

You all know the story, right? A small town girl moves to the big city to start her career, becomes successful and then circumstances force her back to her hometown to confront family drama, unrequited love and then the bodies start piling up?

OK, maybe that last part is not as familiar.

But like all good Hallmark Christmas movies this musical parody has heart. Plus a lot of humour. Not to mention hilariously cartoonish violence.

This show will leave you longing for Christmas with a side of horror! The Hallmark Formula does not disappoint in this comedy and you will have a smile on your face the whole time. The songs and the story as well as the amazing cast come together to deliver an exceptional performance. Laughs are nonstop in this musical comedy. Don’t miss out on this gem of a show! Great venue and great laughs! Honorable mentions go to Nutmeg, Sebastian, Joy Frost, and Prunella.

I'll admit I had fairly high expectations going into this performance. I'm a classic Christmas movie enthusiast and I wanted to love this...

And I did.

From the opening number to the last notes, I was fully invested in every character, every plot twist, and every line. I laughed so hard my face hurt, I felt more emotion than I was expecting when certain characters had their solo moments, and I was captivated by the music, the dancing, and the overall talent that is on that stage.

It's such a fun show, well written, choreographed, and performed. I definitely recommend adding this to anyone's list who enjoys a good musical, a classic Christmas movie, or a bit of campy horror.

This show was so close to being magical.

Ultimately, I think it ends up being worse than the sum of its parts.

Every performance by each member of the cast was great, with a special shoutout to Andrew Cormier as Nutmeg who absolutely stole the show.

There were some show-stopping numbers with the cast showing off their vocal prowess, justifiably. And several songs had well-crafted lyrics with very clever puns. When there were flubs (as there will be with this many people on a small stage), it was gracefully handled and improvisationally made a part of the performance. Everyone did a standout job.

But ultimately, the story... wasn't really. I'm not sure characters, motivations, or even exposition on what was happening was entirely consistent throughout the play. While there were several zingy one-liners, some of them bordered on irrelevance, and I thought started to take away from what was happening on stage.

Ultimately, I think this show shines in it's performances and the cleverness of its lyrics. I almost would prefer it to be a series of vignettes or sketches, or take another pass at revisions.

But I do have full confidence that everyone involved has the potential to do absolutely great things, and that was on display here.

I will say, I went to a midnight showing and some of the lines that didn't land with me absolutely did land with the crowd, so I'm willing to accept that it's just a difference in comedy preference.