CHRISTMASTIME IS QUEER AGAIN

e Playwrights 6 scribes have prepared a follow-up to Christmastime is Queer, last December's anthology of short plays, which proved deliriously gay in all senses of the word. There are charming moments and winning performances in this new fare, but it's less satisfying than was last year's smashing collection. The plays all take place in a West Hollywood gay bar on Christmas Eve, with bartender Sebastian (the amusing Brian Ackland), a recurring character. In Larry Dean Harris' gleefully irreverent Christmas With the Reagans, directed by Sharon Rosen, Nancy Reagan and her Gorgon-like children improbably end up in the bar en route to a holiday musicale. Harris' sardonic sendup of right-wing hell makes mincemeat of the Republican political machine in general and the Reagan family in particular. Prepare to wince at some tasteless lines, such as the reference to Nancy's "vegetable" husband. Harris' spoof is bolstered by Celebration artistic director Derek Charles Livingston's uproarious turn as a drag-queen barfly called Aretha, who rubs elbows with the clueless Nancy (Jodi Kirkpatrick), her obnoxious daughter Patti (Kimberly Elaine Crowe), and the tutu-wearing son Ron Jr. (Michael Gee). The second-best offering, Amy Heidish's All I Want for Christmas, directed by Rosen, is another broadly etched comedy. In this romantic roundelay, one duo of friends (John Strickland and Mark A. Espinosa) and another (Alecs Vildosola and Gee) engage in circuitous rounds of flirtation. This is a deftly acted cream puff, with Vildosola in especially fine form. In Steve Luther's seriocomic Senor Landers, directed by Darryl Theirse, two men have an unexpected reunion when the restroom door in the bar becomes jammed. Perky young Todd (Johnny Smith) realizes that his fellow captive is his former high school Spanish teacher, Senor Landers (Darrell Geer). Theirse and company capitalize on the gentle humor and poignancy in this warmhearted odd-couple story. Two other vignettes are slight but engaging. In Mother Christmas, writer/ director Laura Black offers a clever generation-gap juxtaposition, as the widowed Vivian (Lisa Temple) reluctantly reveals to her daughter (Carolann DiPirro) that she's romantically involved with a woman. G. Bruce Smith's Esmeralda's Gay Christmas, directed by Jonathan Levit, is the bittersweet tale of a sweet-spirited heterosexual Latina (Elizabeth Gonzales), who decides a gay bar is a good place to get over her holiday doldrums, as she helps one patron (Jerry Banks) cope with a tragedy. The evening's weakest link is Nathan Clum's The 5th Golden Ring, directed by Ken MacFarlane. It's a diffuse piece that leads to a predictable conclusion, telling of a gay man (Guy Bracca) and the unexpected truce between his separated parents (Steve Howard and Susie McCarthy). Though the Christmas background in these mini-plays sometimes feels more tacked-on than pertinent, the evening offers an entertaining respite from holiday season pressures. "Christmastime Is Queer Again," presented by Playwrights 6 at the Celebration Theatre, 7051-B Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. Fri.-Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 3 & 7 p.m. Dec. 5-28. $20. (323) 860-662