The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Local News

December 7, 2012

Holiday musical this weekend

By Steve Keenan For The Register-Herald

OAK HILL — Christmas, like life in general, is sometimes accompanied by conflict.

The entertaining story about how one family deals with such discord at Christmas time, the dramatic musical “Four Tickets to Christmas,” will be presented this weekend at the Oak Hill Church of the Nazarene.

Written by Deborah Craig-Claar and Mark Hayes, “Four Tickets to Christmas” centers around a touring musical family which finds no place to go for Christmas. When that happens, they return to their roots — the family farm in Cedar Grove, Ohio.

While there, they are forced to come to terms with long-simmering conflicts. As the performance unfolds, the audience sees how the family and their friends learn the importance of following God’s direction for their lives.

Joe Shrewsbery, one of the directing coordinators for the drama, calls it “one of the best written plays.” It has, he says, “a great message and a lot of energy.”

“The gist is that the son went into music and the dad wanted him to stay home at the farm,” explained Jim Murdock, who portrays the father. “It caused a lot of ill feelings.”

Murdock says he is particularly impressed with the choir as it sings while performing various movements during the performance, as well as the manner in which members perform scene and set changes.

A cast of 42 will take the stage for the drama, which will last about 90 minutes.

“Four Tickets to Christmas” will be staged tonight and Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Church of the Nazarene on East Main Street.

The church has been presenting the Christmas event for about 25 years.

Admission is free this weekend, but an offering for the local food pantry will be accepted.

— E-mail: skeenan@register-herald.com

Text Only
Local News