The original Broadway production of "A Tuna Christmas" by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears and Ed Howard opened on December 15, 1994 at the Booth Theater and ran for 20 performances. Joe Sears was nominated for the 1995 Tony Award (New York City) for Actor in a Drama for "A Tuna Christmas" and recreated his performance in this filmed production as did Jaston Williams.
A Tuna Christmas is the second in a series of comedic plays (preceded by Greater Tuna and followed by Red, White and Tuna and Tuna Does Vegas), each set in the fictional town of Tuna, Texas, the "third-smallest" town in the state. The trilogy was written by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears, and Ed Howard. The plays are at once an affectionate comment on small-town, Southern life and attitudes but also a withering satire of same. The plays are notable in that two men play the entire cast of over twenty eccentric characters of multiple genders and various ages. The first play, Greater Tuna, debuted in 1981 in Austin;