Ready for Santa?
Sing Hosanna! is busy with toys and elves in preparation for the Christmas in August dinner theater on Aug. 12. Food, fellowship and fun are the theme for the day, along with Christmas of course.
“How Santa Got His Christmas Tree” is a fun family oriented story about elves and expectations. It finds Santa's helpers busy building toys and sorting mail while Mrs. Claus searches for a Christmas tree for Mr. Claus. Add some rouge toy makers holding a tree hostage and you have motive for mayhem with a moral.
The big man himself, Santa Claus, will be played by Luke Pfeifer, 18, of Butler Township.
“He's the jolly old man we all know from our childhood. But he displays a lot more heart and concern than most other shows or movies depict,” Pfeifer said.
Pfeifer said his personal take on Santa is to make him a more human character than a larger than life persona.
“Most of the time Santa has a strong, low booming voice that everyone can recognize. I tried to be a more human Santa so there are signs of age in his movement and voice,” he said.
He believes the intimate setting of the stage is a benefit when performing in the dinner theater venue.
“The stage being a bit smaller just pushes us to be even more convincing as our characters and to have more fun with it. Which I think pretty accurately summarizes how the whole thing feels. It's just fun,” he said.
His sweet wife Mrs. Claus is being played by preschool teacher Alisha Stephenson of Butler.
“My nurturing mother-like nature and a love for Christmas make this role a perfect fit,” Stephenson said.
She said she's getting into the role by baking Christmas cookies.
Stephenson said she enjoys the dinner theater venue.
“It is fun because you are able to interact with the audience more. I do enjoy it. It can be a little challenging because you have to be more aware of your positioning on the stage since seating is different and not in a theater,” she noted.
Stephenson appeared last fall as the Wardrobe character in the Sing Hosanna! presentation of “Beauty and The Beast.”
Stingy, one of the naughty elves who tries to throw a toy wrench into Mrs. Claus' Christmas plans for Santa, is being portrayed by 14-year-old Genevieve Archer of Penn Township.
“I'm looking forward to playing an evil character and busy practicing my elf voice,” she said.
While the dinner theater performances are shorter than a regular play, it is still a fun experience, she said.
“It's a lot less work because the actual performance is shorter, but I enjoy being able to actually interact with the audience,” she said.
Also taking the stage are TommyLynn Kilian, Conner Yelich, Skylyn Ellison, Malachi Stephenson, Jordan Davis and Alayna Bestwick.
WHO: Sing Hosanna!WHAT: Christmas in August dinner theater show “How Santa Got His Christmas Tree”WHEN: Noon and 6 p.m. Aug. 12WHERE: St. Peter’s Parish Hall, 127 Franklin St.TICKETS: $22 per adult and $7 per child age 10 and younger. Reservations due by Aug. 9, available at May’s Music Shoppe, 247 E. Jefferson St. and from cast membersINFO: 724-287-8365
