SANDERS’ FAMILY CHRISTMAS
RiverStage Community Theater
Book by Connie Ray
Director: Richard Zenk
Producer: Linda Shuck and Pat Mattingly Norman
RiverStage Community Theater in New Richmond seeks 2 males and 1 female actors for the Christmas show. Also seeking volunteer musicians (non-actors) who can play the bass, guitar, keyboard, banjo or fiddle.
New Richmond is a 15 minute drive from Coney Island.
Audition by appointment. Email the director, Richard Zenk at richardjoseph@gmail.com.
Performances run December 2, 3, 4, 9, 10, and 11.
Rehearsals start in October.
Synopsis: This play with bluegrass/gospel music is set in the small country sanctuary of the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Mount Pleasant, North Carolina near the Blue Ridge Mountains. It is Wednesday night, December 24, 1941, eighteen days after Pearl Harbor and FDR’s declaration of war.
The fictional Sanders Family first performed at Mount Pleasant on June 15, 1938 after a five-year hiatus from the Gospel Circuit (the setting of the musical Smoke on the Mountain – the prequel show). This will be their last performance before the war forces the group to disband since Dennis will be shipping out to Boot Camp the day after Christmas.
Characters:
Singers:
- Burl Sanders: Father (55-65) – Baritone – Strong patriarch, and proud leader of his family. – Good singing voice
- Dennis Sanders: Twin brother (30s) – Tenor – Has become a “real” preacher since his first visit to Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church. He is proud to have enlisted in the Marines instead of being drafted. He is the younger of the twins and seems willing to follow the lead of others. – Good singing voice.
Non-singers:
- June Sanders: Sister (30s) – No singing – June contributes to the family’s performances by playing hand-held percussion instruments and demonstrating her own interpretive “sign language.”
- Reverend Mervin Oglethorpe: – Pastor of Mount Pleasant Baptist Church (40s) – Limited singing (can talk/sing) – An enthusiastic minister who recently lost his beloved mother. Good comic timing.
The Sunset Players needs one more cast member to fill out the cast of their Children’s Production of THE HOUSE AT POOH CORNER.
Looking for a talented young male performer to fill a role in our holiday production at the Covedale Center for the Performing Arts:
CenterStage Players has an immediate need for a Lighting Designer who can hang, focus and (hopefully) run lights for its upcoming October production of A DEATH OF A SALESMAN.
Lebanon Theatre Company will be conducting interviews with interested Directors for our 2017-2018 season.
