COEUR d'ALENE - There's a comedy, and then, there's a farce.

"Sorry! Wrong Chimney!" is the latter.

"Farce has very specific elements to it," said Marina Kalani, director of the play that opens tonight at the Lake City Playhouse.

Those elements include, but are not limited to, mistaken identities, chase scenes, rapid pace, confused scenarios, and seemingly ridiculous situations.

"All of that is very much incorporated into this show," Kalani said. "All those classic elements you would expect to see are there."

Written by Jack Sharkey and Leo W. Sears, "Sorry! Wrong Chimney!" tells the story set in the 1970s of a wife who becomes suspicious her husband is having an affair, when he is actually moonlighting as a late-night department store Santa.

Hypnotism, a Santa burglar and his gun-toting fiancee, and a confused policeman join in "to create a hilarious Christmas belly buster."

As director, Kalani said she simply tried to "control the chaos" and keep the pace zipping along during the hour and a half play with an intermission.

"In a show like this, you don't ever want to think too much because the characters within the show make choices no logical person ever would," she said, laughing.

They make choices, she added, "because it's funny," and this is all about making the audience have a holiday chuckle.

"At the end of the day, the illogical approach becomes the most sensible of the options and that's part of the beauty of this type of comedy," Kalani said.

Kalani, known for her singing, has directed musicals before, and directed her first drama, "Elephant Man," last year. This is her first comedy.

She found it fun, but difficult.

"Farce is so big, so over the top, making that believable is challenging," she said.

She urges the audience not to overthink what's happening on stage, as the characters are on the zany side.

"The things that they do are ridiculous and yet maintaining some level of authenticity," she said. "It's very real to these people on the stage."

Kalani said she has been blessed with a "funny cast" with great instincts and enthusiasm.

The cast of "Sorry! Wrong Chimney:"

• Liberty Brewster (Natalie). You may remember her as Kaye in last season's "A Taffeta Christmas." The newly married Mrs. Brewster is currently in rehearsals for "The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas," to open on the main stage at Spokane Civic Theatre in January.

• Doug Dawson (Kris) has been seen in numerous productions in the area. Doug has a B.A. in theater from Eastern Washington University. He is a singer/songwriter and a playwright.

• Dan "Doc" Heggem (Cop) performed as an ensemble member of "Evita" and the reader's theater production of "August: Osage County." Doc also directed last season's "Of Mice and Men."

• Micah Lynn (Samantha) is returning to the LCP stage after her last appearance as the toothless and very pregnant Little Becky Two Shoes in "Urinetown." Some of her favorite theater credits include Belle in "Beauty and the Beast," Mo in "Cowgirls" and Donna in "A Taffeta Christmas."

• Brandon Montang (David) was in "Oedipus" and "Antigone," as well as played Mayor Anton Autonovieh in "The Government Inspector." Recently, he was at Civic Theatre as George Jones in "Women of Lockerbie."

• Dave Rideout (William) has been seen in more than 20 theatrical productions in the region over the last seven years, performing at Interplayers, Spokane Civic Theatre, Lake City Playhouse and Ignite!

• Amy Bishop (Sheila) enjoys acting but most of her theater experience has been behind the scenes as part of the stage crew.

Kalani said Dawson stepped in when another actor had to pull out due to an injury.

"We so appreciate his willingness to come in. He just closed a show in Spokane Sunday and then started with us Monday," she said.

She said humor aside, there might actually be a serious lesson to be learned from "Sorry! Wrong Chimney!"

"Sometimes we do try too hard to make things work out. Sometimes maybe, letting go, taking the illogical approach, try something you've never tried before, is the solution to the problem you're facing," Kalani said.

In the end, though, the real reason to buy a ticket for "Sorry! Wrong Chimney" is pretty simple.

"If you want to come and laugh and forget about the worries of the day, this is the show to see," she said.

"To be able to shut down all the pressures of the day, the pressures of the season, the pressures of our time, our economy, all of those things," Kalani continued, smiling. "Just sit back and laugh, turn off your mind, don't try to overthink it, don't try to analyze it."

Just have yourselves a merry, slightly crazy Christmas.

If you go

"Sorry! Wrong Chimney!" runs Dec. 2 through Dec. 18 on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at the Lake City Playhouse. Times are 7:30 p.m., but 2 p.m. Sundays. Tickets are $17 for adults, $15 for veterans and students, $13 for seniors and $9 for children 12 and under. Box office hours are Monday to Friday, noon to 4 p.m. The box office opens two hours prior to each show. The Lake City Playhouse is at 1320 E. Garden Ave., Coeur d'Alene.

Info: 667-1323