Despite a sloppy November morning, the cast of Brave New Workshop was full of chatty Christmas cheer before putting "All I Want for Christmas Is 700 Billion Dollars" in front of its first preview audience. Let's go backstage and see what makes these folks tick:

Q Do you count on gifts to make Christmas merry?

Lauren Anderson Me and my family haven't exchanged gifts for three years. It's so awesome to not have to shop for everyone. We go over to the house, eat turkey, drink wine and hang out, maybe watch a movie. It's really nice.

Mike Fotis My birthday is on Dec. 23 and Christmas is like a weeklong celebration. I like getting stuff.

Joe Bozic The Bozic boys are very much into gifts.

Fotis This guy sends out a Christmas list!

Bozic I'm forced to. The wife forces me. I was born early, during my mom's baby shower, so it's been in my nature that when gifts come around, I'm excited.

Bobby Gardner Our Christmas, we have a set schedule. There's only so many things you can talk to your family about so you have to fill those hours with gift opening. Gifts are a big part of the holiday.

Josh Eakright: Honestly, I like the idea of all that pressure gone, but if there are any kids in the room, I love watching them go through it.

Ellie Hino We're all about the food. My mom, dad, grandma, grandpa. I don't think we opened a gift last year. I'd miss the traditional things more than the gifts, like getting Blue Diamond smoked almonds in my stocking.

Q Who are you favorite Christmas characters?

Fotis The dad in "Christmas Story." I relate more to that movie than anything else.

Bozic I've never been able to shake the "California Raisins Christmas" out of my head.

Anderson The Pink Spotted Elephant from the Island of Misfit Toys. In fact, I love all the animals on the Island of Misfit Toys so much.

Gardner I like "Christmas Vacation" so I'd have to say the Griswold family. It rings true to my family. And George Bailey. I'm a big Jimmy Stewart fan.

Eakright Jesus. I'm a big fan of Jesus. And on "Futurama," there's the SantaBot. I like Disney's "Christmas Carol," where Goofy plays Bob Marley. Isn't that his name? The ghost?

Hino I like Hermie from "Rudolph" because I have dreams, too. Oh, and "Nutcracker," that lady with the skirt that opens with the kids coming out of it.

Q Best Scrooges ever?

Gardner George C. Scott.

Anderson Michael Caine.

Fotis Scrooge McDuck.

Eakright Yeah, Scrooge McDuck.

Q Favorite Christmas song?

Anderson Oh, I know this one. "Little Drummer Boy," the old-school version. Sometimes I listen to it late at night when I'm driving by myself and I'm crying by the end. It's so good. He doesn't have a lot to give so he gives him his song.

Bozic We would always sing "Up on the Housetop" at my grandma's house.

Fotis Any Christmas song that would be sung by a country/western legend, because they'd make it so sad.

Gardner "O Holy Night." Bing Crosby's version of "White Christmas," and when I have a girlfriend, "Baby It's Cold Outside." If I don't have a girlfriend, it's a sad song.

Eakright "Happy Birthday to Jesus." And "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town."

Hino "The First Noel" and "Ave Maria." That's a Christmas song, isn't it?

Q When was the last time you went to church on Christmas?

Eakright 2007.

Fotis No idea.

Anderson 2001. We always go on Easter, though! I love Easter, it's so pretty.

Bozic The early '90s.

Gardner 1998.

Hino I grew up Catholic, but I went to a Lutheran church with an ex-boyfriend five years ago.

Q Worst gift ever?

Anderson When I was a tween, my grandparents gave me a workout video and a pair of royal blue lace underwear. The butt was all lace.

Fotis The worst gift I ever gave was when I was with a woman I was almost going to marry and I gave her a wicker box. And I said, "You can put stuff in it." And I saw the love drain out of her eyes.

Bozic My aunt and uncle gave me a remote-control plane and the control pad was connected to the plane with a wire so you had to wave it around your head to have it go anywhere.

Gardner My birthday is like two weeks before Christmas so one year my grandma got me a guitar for my birthday and a soap-on-a-rope for Christmas.

Hino When I was a teenager, my brother came home with this story about all these gifts he'd bought for us, but they were in the trunk of his car and his friend had the car. He told us what he got us and I said there's no way you could have afforded that. And to this day, he insists he really did have our presents in there.

Graydon Royce

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