Friday, November 10, through Sunday, November 19
Playcrafters Barn Theatre, 4950 35th Avenue, Moline IL
A Miracle on 34th Street will soon be transformed into a stage entertainment on 35th Avenue, as the Playcrafters Barn Theatre presents the theatrical version of 1947's beloved holiday movie – a play based on a novella based on a story that inspired the film's Oscar-winning script.
The winner of three Academy Awards including Best Screenplay for George Seaton, Best Original Story for Valentine Davies, and Best Supporting Actor for Kris Kringle portrayer Edmund Gwenn, Miracle on 34th Street, and most audiences know, is the tale of a kindly old man who becomes a sensation as a Macy's Department Store Santa Claus. When he insists that he actually is St. Nick, no one believes him. And yet people – especially second-grader Susan Walker – begin to notice something special about this Kris and his determination to advance the true spirit of Christmas amidst the rampant commercialism around him ... and notice his ability to succeed in improbable ways.
Adapted by Will Severin, John Vreeke, and Patricia Di Benedetto Snyder, and described by New York's Metroland as a play that “bustles from scene to scene with holiday cheer,” Miracle on 34th Street is being directed by Tyler Henning, familiar from his performances in such Playcrafters comedies as M*A*S*H, Barely Heirs, and The 13th of Paris. Actor Don Fey plays Kris Kringle opposite Chloe Hansen's Susan, and 16 area performers fill out the supporting cast: Sydney Dexter, Jordan Dodd, Emily Edens, Devin Hansen, Luke Hansen, Anna Harris, Annaleise Hayes, Victoria Larson, Steve Marriott, Sara Meyer, Bill Peiffer, Tom Safford, Jim Strauss, Kermit Thomas, Nicole Tillberg, and Elle Winchester.
Miracle on 34th Street runs Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m., tickets are $13, and more information and reservations are available by calling (309)762-0330 or visiting Playcrafters.com.
