Village Theatre Announces Holiday Performances
November 12, 2005
Contact: Troy Siebels (781) 640-5625
Village Theatre Project’s second “On-Tour”
event of its 2005-2006 season will be performed December 10, one
night only, at the Groton-Dunstable Performing Arts Center in
Groton. The performance, entitled “Home for the Holidays,”
will feature members of the new professional theatre’s Company
of Artists, a 20-member ensemble that includes many of Boston’s
most accomplished actors and singers, performing scenes and songs
in celebration of the holiday season. “Our first On-Tour
show, in Fitchburg in October, sold out completely,” said
Artistic Director Troy Siebels,
“and we expect the same this time around. Some of the material
will be familiar, and some will be a new and wild take on the
familiar. It will be a real crowd pleaser.” Performers will
include Boston favorites Christopher
Chew, who is currently performing in “Kiss of the
Spider Woman” at Speakeasy Stage Company and who, together
with Siebels, helms the
young theatre company; and Kathy
St. George, currently appearing in “Menopause…
the Musical” at the Stuart Street Playhouse. The performance
will begin at 7:30. Tickets are $40 per person, and may be obtained
by calling (978) 456-7898 or emailing info@villagetheatreproject.org.
Village Theatre Project’s “Young Company”
youth theatre education programs have expanded this fall as well,
and the group of young performers ages 9-17 are in rehearsal for
Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” to be
performed December 8-10, also at the Groton-Dunstable Performing
Arts Center. Chew, who also teaches theatre for Tyngsboro schools,
will direct the production; Ellen Peterson will choreograph. The
production features Timothy Harrington as Ebenezer Scrooge, with
an ensemble cast of players. The script is Siebels’
own adaptation of the holiday classic, which has been performed
professionally at American Stage Festival in Nashua, New Hampshire;
and at Stoneham Theatre in Stoneham, Mass. “It’s a
traditional telling of the story, with lots of music, which I
think is so much a vital part of the holidays,” explains
Siebels. Performances
of “A Christmas Carol” will be at 7:30pm
on December 8 and 9, and 2:00pm on December 10. Tickets are $12
for adults and $10 for students.
Both events will be performed actually on the
stage of the Groton-Dunstable Performing Arts Center, where the
group has created an intimate, 200-seat black-box theatre, moving
the audience on stage with the performers. “It will be something
no one is expecting,” according to Christopher Chew. “We
wanted a much closer relationship between audience and actor –
the audience will definitely feel much more a part of the event.
It’s much more dynamic than it would otherwise have been.”
Village Theatre Project first debuted for Nashoba
Valley audiences with a Grand Opening performance in June, followed
by a two week new play development retreat in Ashby in July. The
ensemble-based theatre company has the distinction of having sold
out each performance to date – a trend it clearly hopes
to continue.
