The 8th Annual Hack & Slash
Christmas Special, the Musical!

Hack and Slash are proud to present The 8th Annual Hack & Slash Christmas Special, the Musical! This page has all the details you need to take part in this totally unique evening of fun and help make a difference by supporting the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

On this page you'll find:

Enjoy and keep checking back in because well be adding exciting new content regularly!

 Click here to Purchase Tickets Now!

Xmas Show Commercial, 2008
This is perhaps the most bizarre, amusing and intriguing Xmas Show commercial yet. Animation! Fighting! Ninjas! And a kitty cat!
Watch it now! Now, now!

Presidential Xmas Show Endorsement, 2008
You won't believe who's endorsing this year's Christmas Special! This was filmed backstage last year just before the curtain opened. Enjoy!
Presidential Xmas Show Endorsement, 2008
Impersonation by Jim Neib: buyabush.com

 
The Hack & Slash YouTube Channel
There's more great Hack & Slash videos on the Hack & Slash YouTube channel!



What  is it? And what's NEW?

Once upon a time Hack and Slash thought it would be funny to do a Christmas Special in the middle of October, as a joke. Years later we're selling out a big theatre and producing a real, honest-to-goodness musical! We've based the show on Charles Dickens' classic tale, "A Christmas Carol" and included our funniest and most talented friends, professional musical theatre performers, a professionally produced musical score, animation and much more into what amounts to the wildest, coolest, craziest show you'll see all year!

There is so much that is new in this year's show! Our composer, Maia Rodriguez, has composed and performed for Disney, Cirque Du Soleil and other multi-million dollar musical productions on both coasts! As our musical director, Maia has really stepped up to make this year's show even more magical with brand new music which will be featured on the soon-to-be-released Hack and Slash Christmas Album. Maia has brought musicians from a major west coast symphony into the recording studios in Los Angeles and re-recorded our musical score. It sounds fantastic and we can't wait to share it with you when we release the album and perform to the new score at the live event!

Meet the Cratchits! We knew we really needed to see more of the Cratchit characters in our story and we also wanted to tighten up the show, while improving the musical performances. This year, we'll take a different approach to our story and feature the guys from the London Broil Comedy Show and other folks from our cast as our Cratchit family! They'll be singing the new "Merry, merry, merry, merry, merry" song, doing a little juggling and comedy and more.

The girls from Hey Nunnie Nunnie are back as Christmas Past and the other ghosts will be played by outstanding, professional musical theatre performers, including Matt Snyder as Christmas Future. Michael Rosman will return to present his Hannukka contribution to our holiday festivities and, of course, the Christmas Ninja Stage Crew will return to perform all the set changes. As always, look for more special announcements and additions as December approaches!

Who  is in the show?

The original musical score was written by Maia Rodriguez and it's amazing! This year's show will include a new Cratchit song and rerecorded and remixed versions of our entire score. Maia will be featured in the upcoming podcast with behind the scenes discussions about the upcoming album, show, and how we will be evolving the production this year. Maia will also discuss her new project "Evernight" a fantasy, musical storytelling experience which has brought together outstanding professional musical theatre, recording and movie industry artists from her stomping grounds in Hollywood. Spencer Humm is Slash of the Hack and Slash Shakespeare Company and in this production he will play "Marley's Ghost," "Ebenezer Hack's" deceased business partner. Spencer is the Christmas Special creator along with Maia Rodriguez as composer and musical director. In originally conceiving the show as a musical, he wanted to both take advantage of Maia Rodriguez's musical talents and provide an opportunity for himself and partner John Davis (Hack) to indulge their shared passion for musical theatre. Spencer has been flying out to the West coast periodically to provide direction for the upcoming "A Hack and Slash Christmas Carol" album. The soundtrack for those sessions will provide the musical score for the live show this year.

John Davis (Hack) recently returned from California where he recorded the vocal tracks, now supported by the live string accompaniment that Rodriguez has arranged and directed. Last year's addition of Hack's lament, "Too Late to Change" has given John a new opportunity to stretch his dramatic singing talents and added new depth our story.

  Hey Nunnie Nunnie are Dana McCain and Shannon O'Brian. These ladies have entertained audiences for over fifteen years, performing as hilarious singing nuns and have been one of our most popular and most requested special guests. They will return as Christmas Past and will offer a revamped version of their piece of the Dickens tale. They are also expected to join the boys from the London Broil, double cast as additional members of the Cratchit family!

Brad plays "Captain Fletcher Moone" in the popular renaissance singing act, The Pyrates Royale and he will be joining our cast as the Ghost of Christmas Present in this year's Christmas Special.

Brad is one of the funniest guys we know and a great singer to boot, so we know he's going to be amazing. We held out in the casting of this year's ghosts for a while because we wanted to bring the absolute best musical performers to the project. Complimenting the ladies from Hey Nunnie Nunnie, L.A. musical theater star Matt Snyder and former Cirque Du Soleil lead vocalist, Maia Rodriguez, we know this will be the best musical performance yet!

Brad has his work cut out for him with the brand new number "It's a Merry Merry Merry Merry Merry Merry Merry Merry Merry Merry Time in the Cratchit Home!" He'll join the boys from The London Broil Show and Hey Nunnie Nunnie as the new Cratchits as he and Hack journey to the poor part of town to discover why "It's a holiday every day if you believe."

  

  This year, we will introduce Matt Snyder as Christmas Future. The devilishly dark and good-looking Snyder has a beautiful voice and when we heard it on Maia's "Evernight" project we knew we had to have him sing in our special.

The London Broil are Duncan Pace, Louie Szkaradek and Matt Connelly. Together, they are the hilarious Cratchit family. Duncan, who provides the animations for our show and DVDs will appear as the fiddle playing Bob Cratchit, Ebenezer's much oppressed employee. If you know the zany and adorable Louie, then you will appreciate why we have cast him as Tiny Tim Cratchit. Matt Connelly will appear in drag as the tuba-playing Mrs. Cratchit. After seeing Matt's performance, the audience will know the meaning of our latest favorite catch-phrase, "Fear the tuba."   

   Michael Rosman has entertained enthusiastic and loyal audiences for years at the Maryland Renaissance Festival as a high-wire walker and comedy juggler. He is credited with organizing the world's most unique and creative gathering of variety artists, Motionfest and is well known and respected for this in the thriving industry of circus performers, magicians, jugglers, comedians, mimes and performance artists. We love him though because he's funny as heck and Christmas Special audiences always appreciate his very funny tributes to the Jewish holidays. Over this years Michael has drunk a glass of wine balanced upon his forehead, without the use of his hands; spun a giant beautiful-girl-filled dradel; juggled the candles from a giant flaming menorah and made holiday treats in a blender strapped to his head. What will he pull off this year? Your guess is a good as ours!

In the past, the backstage crew wore the traditionally theatrical black clothing with a Santa hat for holiday cheer. One day, we were looking at a picture of them and Slash said, "Geez, they're just a mask away from being some kind of twisted yuletide assassins!" and thus, the Christmas Ninjas were born. In the past, martial artists Patrick Barry and "Ninja John" Bouthner have joined comedians Steve Wannall, Stephon Walker and Tim Grieb, as well as acrobat Dan Thurmon and "professional blonde bombshell" April Canter to provided spectacular and silly set changes. This year's troop promises to add new creative dimension to our production... though you may or may not actually see them... until they want you to.   

Where  is it?

The Chesapeake Art Center is just minutes from the Baltimore beltway, in Glen Burnie on Ritchie highway. It's a beautiful theater and the parking is free! Visit their website for directions. They aren't selling the tickets this year, so go to our online broker TicketLeap to purchase them. The venue is beautiful with ample, free parking and both a general admission and VIP lobby. The theatre hosts such notable acts as "The Temptations" and other international performing artists when they visit the Baltimore area. The Hack and Slash Christmas Special, the Musical! has garnered some of their all-time largest audiences, and they provide outstanding technical support and audience hospitality to our event.

For you MapQuest.com or GPS users, the address of The Chesapeake Art Center is: 194 Hammonds Lane, Brooklyn Park, MD, 21225.

When  is it?

There are Three Great Shows! December 12th at 8pm and December 13th 2pm and 8pm. We have two evening shows and an afternoon matinee to choose from. Last year the evening shows sold out quickly, so to get the best seats, go to TicketLeap and choose your spot from the easy to use, interactive seating chart.

How  do I get tickets?

Tickets are available online from TicketLeap.com. The show has been the number one selling holiday event on TicketLeap for several months each year!

 Click here to Purchase Tickets Now!

What  else?

Since the very first H&S Christmas Special, it has been tradition for the audience to get into the Christmas spirit and participate in this "fireside storytelling experience" by wearing pajamas. So, get out those fuzzy slippers, grab your teddy bears and come join us at the only Holiday event you can enjoy, jammies-style!

The Album!

Hack and Slash and Maia Rodriguez have been working for several years to gather an exceptional cast of professionals to record the musical score of the "Hack and Slash Christmas Carol." The album is being recorded in Burbank, CA and will feature new musical tracks of live performances from professional symphonic, theatrical and rock and roll musicians, as well as wonderful vocalists from both coasts. The album is scheduled to be released in time for the show in December. Tune into our upcoming podcast to hear sneak previews of tracks from the album and the insider look at its production.

Got more questions? Email us at mail@hackandslash.com and we'll try to answer 'em.


Check out these fun promos from previous years!

Pictures from Christmas Specials Past
Click on the thumbnails to see the full image

Watch last year's trailer for Hack and Slash Christmas Special, the Musical! If you've never seen the show, you may want to check out the 2006 trailer which features highlights of previous shows!

Warning: repeated viewings may lead to ticket or DVD purchases.

Scary Xmas Trailer, 2007
This is a special Halloween promo for our upcoming Hack & Slash Christmas Special, the Musical!.
Warning!! It contains strong horror images and may be unsuitable for young viewers.

Are Hack and Slash really Action Heroes? You betcha! And to prove it, you can read the Action Heroes Comic Book, to further your anticipation for the upcoming Hack & Slash Christmas Special, the Musical!.

All rights reserved. Webmastering services by Just Adequate Media.