Sabrina Carpenter’s holiday special delivers quite the combination of newly minted pop queens.
In A Nonsense Christmas with Sabrina Carpenternow streaming on Netflix, the “Espresso” singer threw open the doors of her fictional vacation home to fellow member of pop music’s new guard, Chappell Roan.
The women, who bonded during their meteoric rise to fame in 2024, came together for a real moment in the special when they dueted on George Michael’s “Last Christmas.”
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Jason Sherwood, the Emmy-winning production designer for the special, which was taped in front of a live audience over Labor Day weekend, told Yahoo Entertainment that there was great excitement when Roan agreed to the guest spot because “the whole summer… was all about them . the kind of ‘it’ girls are.’
His job was to create the right setting for them to come together.
Sherwood said Carpenter “loves the sitcom feel of ‘Friends’,” so he tried to capture that atmosphere with her holiday home set. (Courtesy of Jason Sherwood/Netflix)
“We were like, what’s the moment? Are they on the grand staircase? Is it this big performative thing? said Sherwood. “They both came back to the team and said, ‘We want to do something that feels a little more casual [and] kind of chill.”
Sherwood created two main sets for the special: one was a cozy house decorated for the holidays, which he described as “Sabrina’s kind of Christmas house meets the Friends set with the small kitchen.” It had a working fireplace and the perfect place for Carpenter to prepare an “Espresso” martini. The second set was a super-sized cake stage with red tiers that rotated during the finale, revealing a 20-foot grand staircase on which Carpenter danced.
It was decided to bring the two pop powerhouses together in the cozy, intimate living room set – only after a big party in the house. There were solo cups, empty liquor bottles and decorations hanging on a thread around them as they sang.
Sherwood said they “destroyed” the set for Carpenter and Chappell’s performance, making it feel like the “end of an ’80s movie.” [movie] prom.” (Courtesy of Jason Sherwood/Netflix)
“The idea that this would be the end of a party came through,” says Sherwood, who won Emmys for designing the sets for the 2020 Academy Awards and Rent: living. “We took this old TV that we have in the living room and played an 8-bit, old karaoke video that said [to] “Last Christmas.” They stand there holding corded microphones attached to the TV.”
As for the living room, which was “pristine and beautiful” at the start of the show, “we trashed it and they came down the stairs barefoot in party dresses,” Sherwood said. ‘It’s a part Euphoriait’s part ’80s movie, like the end of an ’80s prom. Then they sing and play and dance together – and it’s such a fun moment. It’s probably my favorite moment in the show because it speaks [to] the essence of what we wanted to make.”
Sherwood said the special – which also features Carpenter dueting with Shania Twain and cameos from Cara Delevingne and Quinta Brunson – was a whirlwind. He was hired in July, an hour after his first interview, and just four and a half weeks later they were filming, which is “not a lot of time” to bring such big sets to life.
Carpenter, who produced the special, was “very [hands-on] from the beginning,” Sherwood said.
Carpenter, who produced the special, “has such a clear sense of self as an artist,” Sherwood said. (Alfredo Flores/Netflix)
“Sabrina is very clear – and so is her team – about what the aesthetic ethos of her world is. It’s very easy to design for an artist like that because you know what you’re dealing with,” explains Sherwood, who has also designed projects and performances for Sam Smith, the Spice Girls, Camila Cabello and Cynthia Erivo. “You know the identity, you know the reference points, you know the tone, you know what the styling will feel like. She has such a clear sense of herself as an artist and for the fans that it’s super easy to say this is or isn’t the right idea.
Sherwood loved taking the idea from the classic TV special; inspiration included the 1953 Marilyn Monroe film Men prefer blondes, 1954 White Christmasthe 1963 Judy Garland Christmas special and the Cher variety shows of the ’70s – and modernized them, but not too much.
Sherwood – on set with art director Alana Billingsley – said his biggest challenge was the fast-paced timeline. Carpenter “is having such a great year — people are so attentive to her and what she makes — that it had to meet all that, but also happen quickly.” (Courtesy of Jason Sherwood/Netflix)
“Sabrina is a young person, a contemporary pop star and a budding pop icon and to do an entire show with no technology around her – no video screen, no [pyrotechnics] – and let it truly be a legacy left by one [modern] lens was such a fun challenge,” he said. “A lot of people just don’t ask for that anymore. … We’re used to seeing pop stars perform in front of about 60-foot video screens.
Carpenter did a “Ghost of Christmas Present” sketch with Nico Hiraga, Quinta Brunson and Cara Delevingne. (Alfredo Flores/Netflix)
Nonsense also gave Carpenter – who is known for her playful performances, in which she ad libs lyrics and gets cheeky – the chance to showcase her je ne sais quoi appeal that has made her fans go wild.
“At the same time she is like: perfect hair, beautiful styling, so put together, but also really accessible to her audience,” says Sherwood. “We wanted to capture both – to show the audience her at the top of a big set looking so glamorous, but then also winking at the camera and telling a cheeky joke.”
Carpenter introduces her new boyfriend – Santa (played by Sean Astin) – to her friends in one sketch. (Alfredo Flores/Netflix)
The special is packed with comedy sketches – written by “an amazing writing team who did everything Saturday evening live and all kinds of great things,” Sherwood said — which fit Carpenter’s personality perfectly. One of them is the newly single star who excitedly invites her new boyfriend to meet her friends. When he shows up, it’s Santa Claus, which Carpenter is unaware of. (Sean Astin plays Santa Claus.)
“It’s Christmas themes drawn through her contemporary woman, a kind of vixen… persona,” says Sherwood. “It’s Christmas with a wink.”
A Nonsense Christmas with Sabrina Carpenter is now streaming on Netflix.
