Mountain Playhouse show brings spirit of Christmas to July

A group of local students will perform the songs of Christmas in the ever-popular Late Nite Catechism show, opening Tuesday at the Mountain Playhouse.

The fourth installment of the show, "Sister's Christmas Catechism: The Mystery of the Magi's Gold," includes the return of Sister as she tells the story of Christmas and recruits audience members to build a live nativity.

"And as I like to say every night, one lucky girl gets to be Mary," says actress Kimberly Richards, or as the audience likes to call her, Sister.

To set the mood of Christmas in July, a children's choir comprised of students from Bedford and Somerset counties will sing about 10 minutes of Christmas songs and perform throughout the nativity scene as well.

"They really do add a lot to the show," says Richards, who has performed the role of Sister at each of the other Late Nite Catechism productions at the Mountain Playhouse and at other venues throughout the country, including the Pittsburgh City Theater.

"The past several playhouse seasons have not offered many opportunities to student performers," says producer Teresa Stoughton Marafino. "When we decided to add 'Sister's Christmas Catechism' to the 2011 schedule, I thought, "What a great twist for the production to cast a student choir," a decision that, at the same time would enable us to respond to the community's interest in finding roles for their children."

These local students are diligent about seeking such opportunities. Megan Wertz , an incoming freshman at Bedford High School, performs one or two shows each year with the Bedford County Players, but she loves being on stage so much that she checks the Mountain Playhouse website early each season to see if the shows the playhouse is performing will need child actors.

The approach has paid off for her. She worked on "Beauty and the Beast" a few years ago at the playhouse before being cast in the children's choir alongside Sister this season.

Another choir member will be Hunter Tresnicky, a recent graduate from Conemaugh Area School District who made it all the way to state chorus this past year. This will be Tresnicky's third performance at the playhouse, also having performed in "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" in 2004 and "The King and I" in 2006.

Tresnicky has seen the other three Late Nite Catechism installments at the playhouse and knows he's in for some fun, hopefully not so much though that he can't keep a straight face while on stage.

Download Classic Christmas Songs − Children's Christmas Pajamas ...

Each family develops its own unique holiday traditions. Christmas is the one season with some traditions passed on from generation to generation while others are born out of a desire to do something new and meaningful to their family unit. Family traditions make happy Christmas memories for young and old. For many people, the food associated with the event is just as important a memory as the event itself for instance pizza to snack on while trimming the tree.

If your child is “crafty” involve them in the making of their costume as this is a fun activity for Baby. An easy costume to make is a pumpkin costume wearing a large orange sweatshirt and a green baseball cap with some green felt leaves on it. A crafty child will have fun making a costume.

Think of your child’s hobbies and interests as these may lead to a costume. The child who loves The Animal Planet show could be an animal wrangler, with safari outfit and a stuffed animal. A scientific child could have funny looking glasses, hair sticking out with gel to make them look like a “mad scientist.” It is ideal to have a costume that shows your child’s personality, hobbies and interests in some way.

New Christmas pajamas is another tradition that evokes good memories and adorable pictures. If gifts are opened Christmas morning, let the children open one gift Christmas Eve – the new Christmas pajamas. Consider having a slumber party while waiting for Santa! Dress everyone in a new pair of Christmas pajamas and play games, sing Christmas carols, or watch Christmas movies during your Christmas Eve festivities.

Tip 3 – Read about animatronics. Your local library and the internet are great resources. Search for terms like animatronics, mechatronics, and robots.  

Tip 4 – Go online or to your local hobby store and purchase basic hobby kits that contain gears, motors, and other animatronics. Not only will you learn a lot, but you will have tremendous fun

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