If you’ve been to Las Vegas over the past few decades, you’ve undoubtedly heard of MICHAEL AIRINGTON, or more probably one of his “alter egos” – “Ester Goldberg” or “Paul Lynde” – as Airington has regaled and entertained us with his one-man shows in various Las Vegas showrooms as well as the nightclub circuit in Vegas, Los Angeles, Palm Springs, and beyond for years. And now, Airington keeps us in stitches as Paul Lynde with MAKING THE YULETIDE GAY: A VERY SPECIAL PAUL LYNDE CHRISTMAS.
While the wholly original Ester Goldberg may be the flashier glitzier side of Airington (and extremely well-suited to the Vegas nightlife), it is his performance as Paul Lynde that may be the most cherished and recognizable work of Airington’s for multiple generations. (Of course, let’s not forget his early days appearing on “The Suite Life on Deck” where Airington played a magic mirror.) Lynde was a staple on television in the 60s and 70s, most notably as “Uncle Arthur” on the long-running series “Bewitched.” He also filled that center square box on “Hollywood Squares” for more than a decade, wowing us with perfect comedic timing and double-entendre zingers. But let’s not forget the hilarious “The Paul Lynde Halloween Special” which has found a new generation of fans thanks to YouTube. And it’s the rapier wit, cadence, timing, and oh-so-recognizable voice of Lynde that makes Michael Airington custom-made for playing Paul Lynde.
Reviving Paul Lynde’s own one-man nightclub act from 1976, “The Paul Lynde Show”, Michael Airington went from small venues with this restaged show to the Strip in Vegas. Between the characters of Ester Goldberg and Paul Lynde, Airington was a smash destined to appear on stage for years. Unfortunately, the pandemic brought an end to many of the smaller venues in Las Vegas which led Airington to pack his bags and move back to Southern California where he teamed up with director Scott Rocket and Bruce Vilanch, the former headwriter of “Hollywood Squares” (and countless awards shows and variety specials) to develop MAKING THE YULETIDE GAY.
SYNOPSIS: “Taped in front of a live studio audience in Los Angeles, this retro 3-camera special parody was written by Emmy-winner, comedian and gay icon Brice Vilanch and brings new life to the quintessentially campy TV Christmas specials from the 60s, 70s and 80s. Filled with Liberace piano numbers, sexual innuendo, endlessly flowing libations, and enough dirty Christmas song remakes to make your grandmother sweat, this fabulous special is sure to bring the Christmas QUEER! … An outrageously funny variety special, the musical romp takes your favorite queer legends of today and yesterday on a tour de force of festive performance.”
Directed by Scott Rockett, MAKING THE YULETIDE GAY: A VERY SPECIAL PAUL LYNDE CHRISTMAS stars Michael Airington as Paul Lynde, Spencer Day as Tab Hunter, David Hernandez as Sal Mineo, David Maiocco as Liberace, Jack Plotnick as Evie Harris, and Seth Rudetsky, Jackie Beat and Lady Bunny as themselves. Original music and lyrics were provided by 14-time Emmy-winning composer and arranger, Dominic Messinger. If you loved those variety shows and specials of the 60s and 70s, not to mention the laugh-out-loud double-entendre-laden comedy of Paul Lynde (much written by Bruce Vilanch), then this is the show for you!
Speaking with Airington, his exuberance, energy, and passion for not only this project but performing in general, is infectious. His dedication to his craft is immeasurable. You hear the joy and effervescence in his voice as he discusses not only his stage work but this 3-camera, live audience experience.
“We shot with no rehearsals, I literally went in and was on the set for 13 hours. The only time I left the set was to eat and once during a camera break, I got to walk my dog who was with me. I was in every single scene. It was crazy. And [we were] rewriting stuff. Everything was on the teleprompter and they only had one teleprompter. I’m learning this, literally, when we were doing the show. Everything changed up to the last day.”
And while Airington had the essence of Paul Lynde down pat thanks to his years of doing his own stage show, scripted dialogue with multiple characters as in a true variety show of days gone by is something else.
As has long been the mantra be it in television or film, it all starts with the words on the page. MAKING THE YULETIDE GAY: A VERY SPECIAL PAUL LYNDE CHRISTMAS is no different. For Airington, working with Bruce Vilanch was a gift. “Growing up doing comedy and knowing who Bruce was, to me it was like working with a comedy writing legend. It was just incredible. On one of the days they wrote the opening monologue, and I was trying to get the timing of Bruce’s writing and I said, ‘Can we go to lunch?’. And this is before we shot, so Bruce and I went to lunch, and we sat there and we went over the opening monologue so I would be able to hit it. I wanted to do his words right. I wanted him to be proud of what I did. It was it was the hardest day I’ve ever had as Paul Lynde…And doing it doing it for the live audience, we only had one take for the opening with the package where I pop out.”
On watching MAKING THE YULETIDE GAY, all of Airington’s hard work clearly paid off as he truly captured Vilanch’s witty, sharp, and rapier writing style and found the right delivery within the character of Paul Lynde that conveyed the purpose and point to every line. Airington found the tone, the cadence, and the emotion within the character that then set the tone of the entire show.
Shot on a very simple white-on-white set with a white door frame, white piano, and a bar, the show allows for the talent to shine. And shine they do. However, a set like this is also very unforgiving as it’s like being up on stage in Vegas where it’s often just the single talent on stage and the audience and there’s nowhere for talent to hide. Given his extensive stage experience, that was not a problem for Airington. “I went off to the side. I let everybody that came on who were the ‘guests’ come into my living room and at the bar drinking [take center stage] and I’m walking from the side. It was so easy to work with.”
Also easy to work with was the amazing talent who popped in to visit. “Evie Harris (aka Jack Plotnick) is brilliant. Just brilliant. David K. Maiocco as Liberace. Oh my God! He’s just absolutely amazing. And we’re doing variety that wasn’t in the script. Let’s do some fun there, and so and so on and Bruce [Vilanch] said ‘cool’.”
With a cast of characters that included, in addition to Airington as Paul Lynde, Spencer Day as Tab Hunter, David Hernandez as Sal Mineo, David Maiocco as Liberace, Jack Plotnick as Evie Harris, and Seth Rudetsky, Jackie Beat and Lady Bunny as themselves, and the “drop-in” style of the show, one has to wonder about cohesiveness with no real rehearsals.
According to Airington, “We did a run-through of everything in the day, but we never really had rehearsals because everything got changed… It was basically, we shot it as it happened. I did have rehearsals for the opening number. We didn’t do the choreography but with the tape day because it was so crazy. We were supposed to have gone into the soundstage the day before, and we didn’t. So they weren’t able to dress the set until the morning of the shoot; set it up. I was crazy. The lighting did everything. We were there at eight in the morning. And we didn’t shoot until six in the evening at six or seven and then we did a few good run-throughs. But it’s getting rewritten all the time. That’s why all the pros were able to get along to make it happen.”
Of course, for Airington, “My job was to not only be in the special, but my job was to keep everybody’s energy up. Somebody had said it was a shame they didn’t have the cameras running in-between because I was basically keeping the audience warmed up.”
Now that MAKING THE YULETIDE GAY: A VERY SPECIAL PAUL LYNDE CHRISTMAS is available to watch on multiple streaming platforms to keep the joy all year long, and with the smaller Vegas venues “gone”, one has to wonder what Michael Airington’s got cooking now. The answer – a lot.
“I’ve got a big documentary project that was shot in Vegas. And it stars Ester Goldberg and is called ‘Chaos’. I don’t know if that’s gonna be the title, but I know that it was just picked up by Miramax. So we’re waiting to find out about that. It’s going to be big. And it’s about what happened in Vegas when the Palms Hotel and Casino went out of business. They were open for Halloween and 2019 and then two days later they had locked the doors and the entire casino closed down… They did a documentary on it. But [with ‘Chaos’] Ester is the first person you see. America’s gonna fall in love with this. I love Ester because she’s not abstract when she’s a character. I’ve always had this weird thing with the LGBTQ community because they might ‘drag claim’. I’m gonna say no. I’m a character. It’s a form of drag like the incredible performers Charles Pierce and Jim Bailey.”
And there’s a big secret project that Airington is working on that will be revealed in due time.
With one final reflection on MAKING THE YULETIDE GAY: A VERY SPECIAL PAUL LYNDE CHRISTMAS, Airington notes two important things. The first is camaraderie. “We were all together and it was hilarious. Everybody was laughing and having the best time and the cute little dancers were fabulous and it was just so much fun. I became friends with David Maiocco [who played Liberace], David Hernandez who played Sal Mineo. The brilliant Jeff Plotnick. I got along with every single person in the show. We had so much fun.”
And as for the second? “I wish that I had one more camera for more close-ups.”
by debbie elias, exclusive interview 12/19/2023
