Community invited to kick off holiday season with ACT's Christmas show

Nov. 30—The Artistic Civic Theatre will celebrate Christmas a little early this year with a production of "Silent Night: The (Mostly) True Story of the World's Most Beloved Carol" that opens Thursday.

"Some of it is true, and to find out the background of this great carol everyone knows is neat for me," said Ward Satterfield, who plays Father Joseph Mohr who wrote the lyrics, and who is the production's musical director. "Silent Night" is featured at the end of the play, and "it's a very nice way to kick off the Christmas season."

The "very end, when everyone comes together, I think it will really touch audiences," said Amy Mueller, who plays Trina Gruber. This show "celebrates the spirit of Christmas, (so) it's a wonderful way for (members of) our community to kick off their Christmas seasons."

"I love Christmastime — I'm glad to have an excuse (due to this show) to get started singing Christmas songs even before Thanksgiving — and any Christmas show will be full of positive messages everyone needs to hear, but this has a theme of togetherness in the face of adversity that really (underscores) the spirit of the season," said Carter Harbin, who plays Franz Gruber, who composed the music for "Silent Night." "Silent Night" is particularly meaningful for Harbin, as "our high school choir" at The McCallie School in Chattanooga "closed our candlelight performance with (it) every year."

The Peter Manos play depicts how a schoolmaster (Gruber) and priest (Mohr) united to produce the beloved Christmas carol despite problematic circumstances, such as a destroyed church organ and a runaway child with special needs, during the Christmas season of 1818 in rural Austria.

"I love the organ, the scenery, the feeling of it," said Kenna Carpenter, who plays Liesl Gruber. "As a Christian, the Christmas season is very special to me."

Also passionate about the holiday season is Lindy Hester, so when she heard about this Christmas show through her participation in the Artistic Civic Theatre's production of "The Lion King Jr." in September "I thought I might as well audition," said the seventh-grader at North Whitfield Middle School. This is "a cute story about how ('Silent Night') came to be, and it'll be cool for other people to see."

"Silent Night" is "one of my favorite Christmas songs, and now we know the history of it, (which is) good," said Carol Burchfield, who plays Frau Schmidt. "People should start their Christmas season with this show, I think."

Even her character, who is a "grumpy" antagonist for much of the action "because she's lonely, turns around a little bit" because of the magic of Christmas, said Burchfield, a teacher at Eastside Elementary School. "The Christmas spirit comes from this show, and if you see it, you'll have it in your heart all year long."

Performances are at 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, as well as a 2 p.m. Sunday matinee. Tickets are available online at https://app.arts-people.com/index.php?show=132310.

The collection partner for this production is the GreenHouse Child Advocacy and Sexual Assault Center.

The GreenHouse, which serves Whitfield and Murray counties, assists and advocates for children who have experienced trauma as well as survivors of sexual assault, and "they can come here to our facility" to provide their statements, according to Mollie Welch, an advocate and prevention coordinator for the GreenHouse. "They disclose it, and it's one-and-done, so they don't have to talk about it again if they don't want to."

The Artistic Civic Theatre is collecting hand soap, hand sanitizer, juice boxes, bottled water, paper towels, toilet paper, individually-wrapped snacks, coloring books, crayons and youth art supplies on behalf of the GreenHouse. Those who wish to make cash donations can do so online at www.greenhousecacsac.org.

Anyone interested in more information about the GreenHouse can visit www.greenhousecacsac.org, while those in need of services can call the 24-hour hotline — available in both English and Spanish — at (706) 222-1147.

Carpenter wanted to be part of this production in part because she so thoroughly enjoyed her role in "The Lion King Jr."

"I literally felt I'd found my home," she said. "These are the nicest people I've ever met."

With his older sister involved in this production, Cole Carpenter jumped in, as well, and he plays Nicholas Gruber, although initially he didn't want to portray that character.

However, as he read the play, "I really liked Nicholas in the story," he said. And while "Silent Night" naturally draws the most attention, his favorite song in this show is another carol, "Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella."

That song is "a special moment after some trying times," said Harbin. "My character is trying to bring everyone together."

Just as the characters unite in this production, so, too, does theater bring people together, a fact not lost on Mueller.

"I love the sense of family and new friends when you do a show here," said the first-grade teacher at Park Creek School. "I've been doing theater since age 5, and to be up on stage again after the halt of the (COVID-19) pandemic means the world to me."

It's "a wonderful show, and I'm glad to be back on stage," said Burchfield, who has been involved with the Artistic Civic Theatre for decades, including directing many youth shows. "The people you get close to, it's been wonderful."