Lion Players get in the Christmas spirit
The Lion Players of Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus, want audiences to experience the Christmas spirit during their production of 鈥淗o Ho Ho The Santa Claus Chronicles鈥� on stage Dec. 1 and 2.
As a part of the Lion Players鈥� season, the Christmas shows are a way for the cast to do something lighthearted as a precursor to the spring Shakespeare performance.
鈥淲e wanted something that would be lighthearted and something we could easily tackle and we are doing 鈥楬amlet鈥� in the spring,鈥� said Lynn Petko, a senior instructor of English and advisor to the Lion Players. 鈥淏ecause we have already started some of the pieces for 鈥楬amlet鈥� we wanted something we could do with both things (performances) at the same time and not bite off more than we could handle.鈥�
鈥淗o Ho Ho The Santa Claus Chronicles,鈥� is written by Pat Cook and available through Pioneer Drama Service.
According to Pioneer Drama鈥檚 website, the play takes place at the North Pole, only a few days away from Christmas. During a press conference, held by Saint Nick鈥檚 press secretary, groundbreaking questions such as 鈥淲hat is Santa鈥檚 favorite food?,鈥� 鈥淗ow does he know who鈥檚 naughty or nice?,鈥� and more are answered.
The audience will meet some of Santa鈥檚 elves and solve the mystery of what happened to Mrs. Claus.
鈥淲e were trying to come up with the moral of the play. We think it is that of course Christmas is about more than just giving gifts, but caring about each other,鈥� said Petko.
The cast is small, with only nine members, but the play allows them to ad-lib a little bit and let their own personalities shine.
The play is directed by Joe Onesi, a junior, who has been a member of the Lion Players for many performances and will be taking on the title role in 鈥淗amlet鈥� this spring.
Serving as the host, who brings all the scenes together, is freshman, Michelle Yezek.
鈥淭here are only six scenes and the host introduces each scene,鈥� said Petko. 鈥淪he is new to the Lion players, she does a good job.鈥�
All of the cast members in 鈥淗o Ho Ho The Santa Claus Chronicles鈥� will be a part of the Spring Shakespeare production.
Performances will be held 12:15 p.m. Dec. 1 and 7 p.m. Dec. 2 at the Maggie Hardy Magerko Auditorium on campus.
Tickets are free and available on a first come first serve basis the day of the performance.
Petko said that after seeing the performance, she hopes the audience walks away with a better understanding of the bond between the cast members and the warmth of the holiday season.
鈥淚 think it would be how much this group loves to entertain and how much they care about each other and they just want everyone to feel in the Christmas spirit,鈥� said Petko about what she wants the audience to take away. 鈥淎nd, they really want everyone to come back and see them in the spring.鈥�