Christmas at the Carriage

Even composer Tchaikovsky would have blushed when social gadabout Rick Oshay and Teresa Kuskey hosted their second annual Christmas bash at the Carriage and Western Art Museum for 150 guests with a decidedly risqué version of The Naughty Nutcracker, featuring the colorful and camp La Boheme dancers and ubiquitous KEYT-TV reporter John Palminteri as the mysterious uncle Drosselmeyer.

The festive fête kicked off with a preshow with Dennis Berger and the Martinez Brothers Band, with singer Luca Ellis, and pole dancers Karen Lehman and Kelsey Bodine, before the four-act 32-cast reworked the creatively costumed ballet classic.

In the spirit of the season Rick handed out 15, $1,000 checks to a number of local charities, including United Way, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Santa Barbara Historical Museum, Girls Inc., Adam’s Angels, the Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation, the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum, and the California Missions Foundation.

Among the Yuletide revelers dancing away to the throbbing music of DJ Gavin Roy were Donna Reeves, Bob and Mary Gates, Riley and Dacia Harwood, Gretchen Lieff, Monte and Maria Wilson, Maitland Ward, Richard and Amanda Payatt, David Bolton, Greg Gorga, Robert Adams, Warren Butler, and Ralph and Diana MacFarlane.