Crossroads Evangelical Free Church plans holiday production

Published 12:00 am Saturday, November 16, 2002

Crossroads Evangelical Free Church is offering the community some free tickets to Christmas.

The church will be presenting the dramatic musical &uot;Four Tickets To Christmas&uot; at the Albert Lea Civic Theatre Dec. 4-8. There is no charge for admission, but a freewill offering will be received to benefit the Salvation Army Food Shelf.

According to Curtis Smith, who is directing the production, there are between 75 and 80 church members involved in the production, including about 30 in the choir and 15 in the cast. They’ve been rehearsing since October. The church is doing the show as a gift to the community, he said.

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&uot;It’s going to meet people wherever they are at,&uot; Smith said. &uot;It’s wonderful, and it’s funny. There are a lot of small themes to which they’ll be able to relate.&uot;

The play is set in December 1905. The company of the Syracuse Family Playhouse is performing the finale to its Christmas show. Henry Richmond, the leader of the troupe, is a local music teacher, and he and his wife, Lucille, and children Emma and Nicholas, perform on weekends. As the performance concludes, the Richmonds prepare to catch a train for Philadelphia and a holiday singing arrangement. Also leaving for the holidays is the playhouse’s conductor, Victor Schwab, a German immigrant who would rather be producing Wagner operas. He is heading for Chicago with the rest of the show’s cast, including soprano soloist Eudora Lindstrom.

At the last minute, the Richmonds’ engagement is canceled. Stranded because they have rented their house for the holidays, the family finds themselves on another train, headed for Cedar Grove, Ohio, to spend Christmas on Henry’s parents’ farm &045; hence the title, &uot;Four Tickets to Christmas.&uot;

The family’s arrival delights Henry’s mother Eleanor but quickly reveals a long-term tension between Henry and his father, Chester. Henry’s decision to go into music and not take over the family farm disappointed the elder Richmond and also fostered fears that the college-educated son was ashamed of his simple roots. Years of distance and lack of communication have intensified the situation.

No sooner has the family arrived than the Rev. Franklin Doyle, the local church’s new enthusiastic pastor, recruits Henry to direct the first-ever Christmas program. There’s just one hitch: They’ll have to rehearse in the Richmonds’ barn, since the church is occupied until Christmas Eve.

The next morning, the locals congregate for the first rehearsal. Luke, the Richmonds’ hired hand, is a secret songwriter with a whole trunkful of songs in his room.

Henry assures him he’ll listen to them &uot;another time.&uot; Suddenly, who should show up but Victor, Eudora and the company. The opera was canceled in Chicago and on their return trip to New York, the train broke down in Cedar Grove. Victor immediately takes over the group.

With new resolve, Henry delegates the roles, sets the chorus to studying parts and leaves to rehearse some solos. Nicholas is relegated to reading the Christmas story out of the Bible, but Luke discovers him deep in animal care instead. Nicholas shares his dream of becoming a veterinarian, which he feels will never happen because it would disappoint his father. Drawing on his own dream to become a songwriter, Luke encourages Nicholas.

Later, as Chester comes up to inspect Nicholas’s reading, Nicholas asks him for help with some words, prompting Chester’s admission that he can’t read. Nicholas offers to teach him.

The play climaxes as Henry and Chester have a confrontation which is interrupted by the clanging of the fire engine and the news that the church is on fire. The father and son ultimately admit their love and respect for each other, as Henry reminds Chester that God will always understand us because he chose to be born in such a simple way.

The cast includes Dana Ford as Henry, Cathy Purdie as Lucille, Amanda Dickerson as Emma, Shelby Little as Nicholas, Shawn Yates as Chester, Meredith Yates as Eleanor, Tony Gau as Luke, Scott Tinman as the Rev. Doyle, Stacey Overgaard as Victor, Arlene Little as Eudora, Richard Stadheim as Preston, Lindsay Aasness as the announcer, and Jen Grotsun as Cornelia.

The production will be presented at 7 p.m. Dec. 4-7. There will also be performances at 2 p.m. on Dec. 7 and 8.

Tickets may be reserved by calling 377-8526. Tickets will be mailed out. There is guaranteed seating for those with tickets until 15 minutes before performance time. Any remaining seats will be opened up to the public at that time.