With the 2015 Theatre series coming to a close next weekend, Festival Theatre is thrilled to announce the 2016 Youth and Family Series.  Next year’s lineup is comprised of Treasure Island in the Spring, and My Name is Rumpelstilskin in the Fall for youth ages 5-18.  Festival will also offer week-long summer acting intensives in a variety of focuses for youth 12-18, and will continue Creativity Camps at various locations for youth 5-12.  Additional opportunities are available for youth actors in The Grapes of Wrath, On Golden Pond, and A Laura Ingalls Wilder Christmas in the 2016 Theatre Series.


Treasure Island, adapted by Joseph George Caruso from the novel by Robert Louis Stevenson will perform March 4th-13th in the Franklin Square Black Box.  When this rousing adventure story premiered Off-Broadway, it received unanimous critical acclaim, The New York Times called it an ‘inventive classic.’ Treasure Island is certainly one of the most durable adventure stories of all time, with the villainous Long John Silver following young Jim across the ocean to search out a buried fortune on Treasure Island.  Festival Theatre will hold auditions for ages 5-18 for Treasure Island alongside youth auditions for The Grapes of Wrath on January 12th and 13th with callbacks on the 14th.  Youth will be required to perform a monologue lasting 45 seconds to a minute in length and must register before January 10thwith the Festival Theatre Box Office to receive an audition time slot and required forms.
 
My Name is Rumpelstiltskin adapted by Vera Morris will perform September 9th- 18th in the Franklin Square Black Box. That nasty-tempered wizard Rumpelstiltskin is back in this engaging adaptation.  Griselda, a four hundred year old witch, tells Rumpelstiltskin that in order to become the most powerful force in the kingdom, he must possess a child of royal birth.  The wizard plots and schemes and spreads the word that Laura, the miller’s daughter, can weave straw into gold.  Since the kingdom is bankrupt, she’s whisked off to the palace and ordered to spin and spin.  With Rumpelstiltskin’s help she delivers the gold.  She has a high fee to pay — her first born child.  When Laura marries the prince and produces an heir to the throne, she has twenty-four hours to guess the wizard’s name or lose her child.Auditions for My Name is Rumpelstiltskin will take place on July 12, 13, and callbacks on July 15. Festival will also use these auditions to cast for one youth role for On Golden Pond. 
 
Auditions for A Laura Ingalls Wilder Christmas will take place on October 4, 5, and callbacks on October 7th.
 
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When Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol, it was an instant and popular success.  The struggling writer was only 31 when he produced what has become one of the most recognized names in the holiday season.  Having struggled with poverty since his childhood, Dickens was fascinated and motivated to write about economic hardship, inequality, and why, in his opinion, one should seek out opportunities to be sympathetic to the poor.  It was 1843 in which Dickens was working to pen a pamphlet tentatively titled, "An Appeal to the People of England, on behalf of the Poor Man's Child."  Although that essay would not be published, it became the short fiction, "A Christmas Carol," and the messages and themes remained intact.  
 
“As we've worked on this show, I couldn't help but find myself feeling quite sentimental.” Says Jaclyn Johnson, Artistic Director at Festival Theatre.  Jaclyn will be leaving Festival Theatre, after A Christmas Carol closes, ”This time of year, one of giving and joy, good food and even better company, is a wonderful time yet it always makes me think of the years behind us and those before us.  And while the visits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come are enough to get me reminiscing, I must also acknowledge the fact that this show marks the last production under my leadership as "Artistic Director."  I cannot thank this community enough for treasuring this art form, for embracing our storytelling, for imagining other realities and times, for disappearing into a magic room called a theatre for a few hours each month, year or even just once.  Thank you for joining me at Festival Theatre and practicing empathy for characters you will never meet, alongside loved ones and strangers alike.  From each audience members to each youth at auditions and Creativity Camps, to my fellow cast-mates and staff members, to our volunteers and board, to those who paved the way and to those who will take that torch from here, I count our time together as a moment of light and a blessing to my life. Thank you for being a part of my story.” Jaclyn continues,” Obviously Charles Dickens wouldn't mind me getting a bit sentimental, as the season does suggest it's justified.  But with his original intentions in mind, I offer you this...  As you watch this show, as you celebrate your holidays, as you join hands in song and high spirit, may you recall your own blessings with a thoughtful mind for those who do not share in your own abundance.  May you be charitable to those who suffer, and may you treasure each moment with each person you meet as a gift, for we truly are blessed.”
 
A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens and adapted by James L. Walker, will continue to run through Sunday, December 27.  $10.00 tickets on Thursday, December 17, order online using the discount code: Christmas. To reserve your spot for the shows, go tofestivaltheatre.org, or call 715-483-3387 during box office hours Tuesday through Friday, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, or at the box office the day of the show. Festival Theatre would like to thank the lead sponsors of A Christmas Carol, Thrivent Financial and Amery Hospital and Clinics.