For twenty seasons now, The Saskatoon Soaps have been a staple of late night entertainment in the bridge city appearing Friday nights at The Broadway Theatre. On top of their untiring commitment to amusing the devout, the sleepless and the strange with their off-the-wall humour, the Soaps also maintain a tradition of spreading a little joy at Christmas time with a special, holiday performance.

"We like to do [these] big shows and also make it a little more accessible for our audience," explains longtime Soaps performer Blaine Hart. "It just makes it easier for more people to catch it."

Every year the improvisational comedy troupe do their zany best to usher in the season with a special primetime show, taking a break from their usual "loose" storylines and adopting a slightly less-"loose" holiday theme. This year the show will be titled, The Lord of the Five Golden Rings: The Return of Elvis, and is the brainchild of Soaps member Jeff Rogstad. Jeff was unavailable for comment at the time of this interview, but Hart was more than happy to step in and shed a little light on the topic.

"It has something to do with The Return of the King," he says. "Only somehow Elvis will be involved. That's all I know. I'm sure it'll be filled with hobbits and drugged up singers and…oh, I don't know. But I'm betting [Tim Feschuk] will have hairy feet!"

Regular fans of the Soaps can also expect to see some familiar, but recently absent, faces returning to the Broadway's stage on December 19th. "Let's see," says Hart, "Ryan Josephson should be in town from Regina. He's a giant. Very funny."

"And Andy McDonald," adds Carly Murray, the troupe's resident alpha female. "Andy is a native of Saskatoon who has moved to Alberta but will be joining us again."

Another tradition for the troupe is making their primetime shows charitable events, this one to benefit the Tree of Plenty, a local organization that raises food and money to help those less fortunate at this time of year. "You know, I think we originated donations," jokes Alphonse Gaudet, and encourages audience members to bring a non-perishable food item as a charitable donation. Past seasons have seen generous contributions from audience members and the Soaps crew is hoping to see "whole boxes full" of donations once again.

If the tremendous feeling of well being one gets from helping the needy is not enough to persuade you, as an added bonus, those bringing items for the Tree of Plenty will also be charged only half of the regular $7.99 admission price.

Showtime for The Lord of the Five Golden Rings: The Return of Elvis will be at 9:30 p.m. at the Broadway Theatre, Friday December 19th. Be sure to bring your food item, some festive holiday cheer…and maybe a satin cape or a pair of elf ears if you have some.