Winter festival planned in Little Theatre

HACKETTSTOWN — Centenary Stage Company’s Young Performers Workshop presents the annual Winter Festival of Shows Dec. 8-16 in the Little Theatre.
This year’s festival will feature Godspell, Christmas is Comin’ Uptown and The Wiz.
Based on the Gospel According to St. Matthew with music and new lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, Godspell is composed of various musical parables from The Gospel. Jesus Christ recruits a group of followers and teaches them various lessons through song and dance. Toward the end of the second act, the show begins to follow a more linear narrative as Jesus is betrayed by Judas and eventually crucified. Performances are Sunday, Dec. 9 at 5 p.m.; Saturday, Dec. 15 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 16 at 7:30 p.m.
Featuring a book by Philip Rose and Peter Udell, music by Gary Sherman and lyrics by Peter Udell, Christmas Comin’ Uptown takes all those Dickensian characters and transports them to the swinging beat of Harlem. Scrooge is a Harlem slumlord about to foreclose on an apartment house, a recreation center and a church when his late partner and the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future take him on their rounds. He comes upon his own grave after watching tiny Tim’s burial procession and he’s reformed. Performances are Saturday, December 8 at 5PM; Saturday, December 15 at 2PM and Sunday, Dec. 16 at 4 p.m.
The Wiz features a book by William F. Brown and music & lyrics by Charlie Smalls. When a Harlem schoolteacher Dorothy tries to save her dog from a storm, she’s miraculously whisked away to an urban fantasy land called Oz. After accidentally killing the Wicked Witch of the East upon her arrival, Dorothy is told about the Wiz, a wizard who can help her get back to Manhattan. As Dorothy goes in search of the Wiz, she’s joined by the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion.
Performances are Sunday, Dec. 9 at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, Dec. 14 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, December 15 at 5 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 16 at 1 p.m.
Tickets for the Young Performers Workshop Winter Festival of Shows are $12.50 for adults and $10.00 for children under 12. All performances will be held in the Little Theatre at 400 Jefferson Street Hackettstown, NJ.
For more information or to purchase tickets visit centenarystageco.org or call the Centenary Stage Company box office at (908) 979–0900. The box office is open Monday through Friday from 1 – 5PM and two hours prior to every performance. The box office is located in the Lackland Performing Arts Center at 715 Grand Ave. Hackettstown.