"A Don't Hug Me Christmas Carol" stars (from left) Marquetta Senters of South Amana; Jeff Haffner of Cleveland, Ohio; Amber Snyder (kneeling) of Memphis, Tenn.; D. Allan Boettger of Cedar Rapids and James Fleming of New York. The show plays on The Old Creamery Theatre's Main Stage in Amana through Dec. 18, 2011. (Deborah Kennedy

By Diana Nollen/ SourceMedia Group

AMANA — The Old Creamery Theatre’s first two outings with the Bunyan Bar crowd were tons of fun. This one is even funnier.

Clara, Gunner, Kanute and Bernice are back in “A Don’t Hug Me Christmas Carol,” which opened Thursday afternoon (11/17/11) to a nearly sold-out crowd. If that’s any indication, grab a ticket now so you won’t miss the Minnesota mistletoe. The show runs through Dec. 18, 2011.

Once again we tromp through the North woods to a rustic bar where this time, it looks like someone threw up Christmas. Twinkling lights, garland and tacky trimmings outline nearly everything in a place where antlers serve as the coat rack and a voice-activated karaoke machine belts out hometown hero Sven Yorgensen’s festive tunes  at the drop of a Santa hat.

Everyone’s in the Christmas spirit except grouchy Gunner (James Fleming). He bah-humbugs his way through the first scene, so incensed by running gags about his infertility and “another Hallmark holiday” run amok that he sets out in the howling wind to ride his snowmobile around the frozen lake.

Next thing you know, his past, present and future are being played out while he’s conked out. No visions of sugar plums for him. His nemesis, Yorgensen (D. Allan Boettger), swoops into the bar all dashing and Dean Martinesque, to guide Gunner through this nightmare before Christmas.

The gags are a little spicier than I recall from the first two “Don’t Hug” me installments in 2009 and 2010, but they had the audience in stitches and groans throughout.

Fleming is hilarious as he harrumphs through his shock watching Yorgensen create a less than wonderful life, swooping in to sweep the Bunyan ladies off their feet. Marquetta Senters delivers just the right mix of sugar and sass as Gunner’s long-sufferin’ wife, Clara, once again seduced by Yorgensen’s worldly ways.

Jeff Haffner is even goofier this time around as Kanute, the Bunyan businessman who keeps trying in vain to woo the young chanteuse Bernice (Amber Snyder) who has stars in her eyes. She got away in the last episode, wooed by the karaoke salesman, and is back after trying in vain to seek fame and fortune singing in St. Paul.

The Bunyans do a fantastic job of keeping up their Norwegian lilts, even while dashing, dancing and prancing their way through hilarious songs in a variety of styles.

Snyder is utterly sweet, whether strutting her stuff in “I’d Rather be Naughty” or blessing everyone with her Tiny Tim tap dance. Boettger, who possesses a rumbling voice of God, tosses plenty of oil and vinegar into “The Bunyan Beguine.” Haffner is especially down with some dope Christmas wrap in “Yo Yo Yo” and Senters and Fleming put their best rubber faces into all of their tunes.

This “Christmas Carol” is full of high spirits and high jinks. It’ll leave you ho-ho-hoing all the way home.

FAST TAKE

What: “A Don’t Hug Me Christmas Carol”

Where: Old Creamery Theatre, 39 38th Ave., Amana

When: Through Dec. 18, 2011; 3 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays

Tickets: $17.50 and $27 at the Old Creamery Box Office, 1-(800) 35-AMANA or www.oldcreamery.com

Information: http://www.oldcreamery.com/2011donthugmechristmascarol.php