ACT’s Miracle on 34th Street

Athens Community Theatre (ACT) announces its 2022 holiday play Miracle on 34th Street, adapted by Mountain Community Theater, from the novel by Valentine Davies, based upon the Twentieth Century Fox motion picture Miracle on 34th Street. The show runs for six performances across two weekends December 2 – December 10, 2022, at the Sue E. Trotter Black Box Theater at The Arts Center in Athens, TN.

“This is a tale that we want to believe in, that creates a world … where love and decency and generosity of spirit are their own rewards. What we want Christmas to be all about, really.” So writes the Santa Cruz Sentinel of this most heartwarming holiday story. By chance, Kris Kringle, an old man in a retirement home, gets a job working as Santa for Macy’s. Kris unleashes waves of good will with Macy’s customers and the commercial world of New York City by referring parents to other stores to find exactly the toy their child has asked for. Seen as deluded and dangerous by Macy’s vocational counselor, who plots to have Kris sent to Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital, Kris ends up in a court competency hearing. Especially at stake is one little girl’s belief in Santa.

Jim Brooks makes his Athens Community Theatre debut as Kris Kringle and fourth grade Athens City School student Georgia Sumner makes her main stage debut as Susan Walker in this production. The cast also includes first time ACT performers Dawn Queen-Huston, Letha Cyr, Hannah, Cyr, Andrew Auther, Zoe Randolph, Mollie Roderick, Will McGinnis, Jaime McGinnis, Zak Headlee, Cooper Jones, and Ella Jacobs.
ACT Veteran Shelley Griffith returns to the stage as Doctor Pierce alongside regular performers Katie Sumner (Doris Walker), Jason Carusillo (Fred Gayley) and Cynthia McCowan (Judge Harper). The cast also includes returning ACT performers Grace Queen-Huston, Jessica Jacobs, Jimmy Jacobs, Alex Lauterbach, Graham Dufty, Tyler Jacobs, and Holland Borwick.

Miracle on 34th Street is directed by ACT veteran, Autumn Lowry, and produced by J. Brad McKenzie and runs for six performances at The Arts Center in Athens, TN. Friday December 1st, Saturday December 2nd, Thursday December 8th, and Friday December 9th performances are at 7pm. Sunday December 4th and Saturday December 10th performances are at 2pm. Tickets are on sale now online at athensartscouncil.org, over the phone, or in person at The Arts Center. Adult tickets are $20 and student tickets are $15.

Miracle on 34th Street, is sponsored by Mayfield Dairy. All Athens Community Theatre productions are sponsored by Dogwood Dental Care, Grover Thurman, CPA, Kiwanis Club of Athens, Muddy Waters Wine & Spirits Two, Starr Regional Medical Center, and Willhite and Mitchell, PLLC. All performances presented by Athens Area Council for the Arts are sponsored by Friendly City Festivals. Edward Jones of Athens, Tennessee Valley Authority, Willsonthropic, Inc, and Mintie C. Willson, as well as Wolfenden Family Pharmacies, are AACA premiere sponsors and support all programming, as does Tennessee Arts Commission.

More information about this, and all programs of AACA, is available at www.athensartscouncil.org or over the phone at 423-745-8781. Staff is available via phone, or in person, at The Arts Center during office hours, which are Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Arts Center is in Historic Downtown Athens in the Main Street District at 320 North White Street