Maybe the first thing we should tell you about Striking 12 at CHAC -- besides the SAD tie-in, the rave reviews, or the fact that only 600 people in Seattle will have the chance to see it -- is that you can win half-off tickets to it. A limited number of $15 tickets are being held for those who correctly answer the following trivia question:

Name at least one of the bands featured the first year Dick Clark hosted Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve.

There's big buzz around the off-Broadway hit musical Striking 12 and its arrival in town finally, so we met up with off-Broadway producer in both New York and Seattle, CHAC's Matthew Kwatinetz.

Matthew on Striking 12:

It's like a rock show combined with a holiday show. It's a really tight hour-long show about a Seasonal Affective Disorder-ed office worker and a full spectrum light bulb sales woman! There's three people in the band, GrooveLily. They wrote it in conjunction with Rachel Sheinkin, who wrote The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. The director, Ted Sperling, was music director of Light in the Piazza. There isn't really a set to speak of, it's mainly the band, so it's sort of like an Awesome-style show. Only more famous.

Dec 14, 8:30pm; Dec 15, 6pm, 8:30pm // CHAC // Tickets $30 adv, $35 door, and $75 VIP (limited)

Matthew on getting Striking 12 to Seattle:

Striking 12 was first developed down at TheatreWorks in San Jose -- they and the 5th Ave and La Jolla are the three places where a lot of Broadway shows get developed outside of New York. I heard this unanimous response from friends down there -- young friends, old friends, computer friends, arts friends -- they all just fell in love with it. At that point it was already being produced in New York by Ars Nova [see video above], whom we've shared artists back and forth with numerous times, and I called them and they said, "Sorry, you missed it. We're already licensed to run off-Broadway." I'm just dying, I'm like, "I want this show," and I'm calling and calling and calling, but it never works out. Then finally, earlier this year, we tried to license our own production of it, and they said, "Sure, we're allowing that, but have you ever thought about bringing the group out?" We're all, "Thought about it? We've been trying for three years!"