By John Lyle Belden

It seems the wooded lands on the northern edge of the United States host some eccentric goings-on. A number of films, TV shows, and plays have celebrated this, and now we can add “Snow Fever: A Karaoke Christmas,” a holiday comedy by Robert Caisley presented as part of a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere at the Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre.

To paraphrase one of its characters, weird stuff happens at Christmas, especially in Montana.

The Phoenix black-box stage has been converted into a bar, the Wet Whistle, which features a drink special that audience members can purchase before the show. It used to belong to Laverna (Jolene Mentink Moffatt) – then known as Taverna Laverna – but now is the property of her son, Brendan (Grant Niezgodski), who runs it with Kenny (Austin Hookfin), an odd young man with “no backstory” and little impulse control.

Local college student Lucy (Sarah Powell) arrives to interview for a job to discover she not only has it but also has arrived late on her first day. Laverna says that can be forgiven (she lives upstairs and acts like she still runs the joint, complete with her free hand with the booze). Kenny comes in with another young woman seeking work, Greta (Akili Ni Mali), a professional Karaoke DJ whom he injured with a frozen snowball to get her attention.

Preparations are under way for the bar’s Christmas Eve party, despite the growing snowstorm outside. The only band Brendan can book is a pair of banjo-playing twins, and he absolutely refuses to have anything as upbeat as the karaoke machine (which Greta is already setting up) in his somber dive bar. Also, Kenny has stolen a tree from the farm of the one man whose name no one is to say – “F. U.” (Brian Tyrell) – thanks in part to what happened at last year’s party.

Also, I should mention, there is Duke. No one knows what Duke is, but he is there.

So, if like me you saw the title “A Karaoke Christmas” and thought this might turn out to be a fluffy holiday music revue, we must remind ourselves: This is the Phoenix F-ing Theatre. Director John Michael Goodson sees this play as a quirky rom-com, but without the Hallmark schmaltz. There is singing in the show, mainly popular karaoke hits. But as love and nostalgia are as much a part of the holidays as the common Christmas trappings, a little “I Will Survive” works just as well as Jingle Bells.

Moffatt revels in her role as mama-bear/queen bee/cougar – the whole menagerie. Laverna can be a bit much, but with a big heart and best intentions. Niezgodski makes a great Phoenix debut, his pragmatic and at times bitter character weathering the chaos. Mali plays Greta as charmingly independent, a roaming soul who takes what life gives her, strange as it may be. Powell also plays Lucy as a roll-with-it sort of character, with more the attitude of someone familiar with the local ways. As for Hookfin, what may seem like just another take on the goof he plays so well in local comedies turns out to have surprising depth; what Kenny appears to lack in intellect he more than makes up for in intuition, as well as irresistible charm.  

Kudos to the cozy set design by Shane Cinal and props by Kristin Renee Boyd.

For a heartwarming holiday play with no heavy message, just good times with a few old pop hits thrown in, come in out of the cold for “Snow Fever,” performances through Dec. 22 at 705 N. Illinois St., downtown Indianapolis. Get info and tickets at phoenxtheatre.org.