Black sitcoms take center stage in ‘Holiday Feast’

Celina Colby

Celina Colby is an arts and travel reporter with a fondness for Russian novels.... VIEW BIO

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Front Porch Arts Collective, Boston’s Black theater company, is celebrating the holidays with lots and lots of laughter. “Holiday Feast” is a live performance of holiday episodes from classic Black TV sitcoms of the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s, serving up seasonal joy with a heavy dose of nostalgia.

Festive episodes from “A Different World,” “Amen,” “Family Matters” and “The Jeffersons” will appear on stage, featuring knee-slapping impersonations from a roster of beloved Boston actors.

Jackie Davis will direct the show. The cast includes Christa Brown, Shani Ferrell, Janelle Grace, Jonathan Kitt, Malik Mitchell, Maurice Emmanuel Parent (co-producing artistic director of The Porch with Dawn M. Simmons), Jada Saintlouis, Rick Park, TJ Robinson, Stephen Spencer and Daniel Washington.

“It’s always been something in the back of our minds, a way to just sort of celebrate these classic Black sitcoms that so many of us know and love, and even introduce them to people who aren’t familiar with them,” says Parent.

Cast of the 2023 production of “Holiday Feast.” PHOTO: Courtesy Front Porch Arts Collective

The sitcoms were brainstormed as a group by The Porch company and then whittled down to a list of 10 and eventually to four. The selections are meant to appeal to a range of generations and interests, playing on seasonal nostalgia. The episodes debuted between 1977 and 1992, but many were syndicated for years, becoming cultural touchstones. 

Parent has rarely acted in The Porch productions since the company launched in 2018, primarily take on a directing or producing role. For “Holiday Feast” he’ll be back on stage embodying actor Sherman Hemsley as both George Jefferson and Deacon Ernest Frye of “Amen.”

“Taking your actor hat off and putting on your producer hat is really, really challenging, because as an actor you’re supposed to focus on your part. And I’m reading my lines and thinking, ‘Oh, wait, did we call catering? Did we get enough snacks?’” says Parent. “But I’m really excited.”

“Holiday Feast” runs Dec. 12 to 14 at the Central Square Theater in Cambridge. Tickets start at $25. On Dec. 13 The Porch will host a pre-performance fundraiser featuring a talk with GBH reporter and anchor Callie Crossley about her impressive collection of Black Santa paraphernalia. Seasonal bites and cocktails will be served.

This is the second year of “Holiday Feast” and Parent hopes to see it become an annual tradition for Bostonians. At this time of year in particular, joy is essential.

“Especially this time of the holidays right before the inauguration, it’s crucial [to have] joy and family and uplift and hope and optimism,” says Parent. “Joy is an act of resilience and protest. Radical joy is like activism.”