Tidings: A Fractured Christmas Fable an original work by Lehigh Valley playwright Brian McDermott will be performed by Crowded Kitchen Players in Allentown, PA, December 5 through December 20, 2014.
Tidings is a humorous original story which merges elements of 'Its A Wonderful Life' and 'A Christmas Carol' into a magical story set a few days before Christmas in a modern department store.
'Tidings' will be performed at Zion's Reformed UCC, 620 W. Hamilton Street, Allentown, PA.
When George “ a down-on-his-luck department store Santa “ reaches the bottom of his rope and resigns himself to another Christmas spent alone (and drunk) his guardian angel appears to attempt to improve his spirits and steer him on the path to success.
At the same time, unfortunately, the Spirit of Christmas Present (known to his friends as "CP") is undertaking his mission to reform the wicked store manager (and Georges boss), Ms Neezer.
With Christmas rapidly approaching, the guardian angel and CP discover that they both require the "use" of a lovely and shy young woman named Virginia to help their "assignments" ¦ and neither is willing to share her.
Crowded Kitchen Players is staging the play following a rousing critical success with its original adaptation The Brothers Tortellini in October at Zions. The company has returned to Allentown after seven years in Bucks County.
Crowded Kitchen Players is known widely for what it calls action comedy, a combination of rapid-fire dialogue and numerous pratfalls, chases, and expressions of physical mayhem.
The Tidings cast includes CKP veterans Keith Moser, Patti Squire, Sarah Thomas, Pamela Wallace, Nancy Mikkelsen, and Alexandra Racines, along with newcomers Joe Stempo, Susan Burnett, and Isabelle Burnett.
Scene painting is by the incomparable Nora Oswald.
McDermott has had one-acts produced at festivals throughout Pennsylvania, Maryland and Wisconsin.
He was a two-time winner of the York Little Theaters original playwriting competition with his comedies Relationalizing and Third Time Is The Charm.
In 2011 his comedy Even Among Misfits won the Pennsylvania Playhouses original artists competition. Rainbow Players Theater Company of Allentown had produced his works Say Uncle and LHIVE.
In February of this year his play Your Enemies Closer was produced at the Shawnee Playhouse in the Poconos.
He had also been commissioned by Phoebe Ministries of Allentown to adopt the novels Still Alice and Passages In Caregiving into a one-act plays for their annual conferences.
The show runs December 5 through December 20. Friday and Saturday shows are at 8 PM and Sunday shows are at 3 PM.
For ticket information, please call 610-395-7176 or order online at www.ckplayers.com/site/buy-tickets