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<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:5.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:
5.0pt;margin-left:0in;page-break-after:avoid;text-autospace:none'><b><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>Down
Home For The Holidays</span></font></b><b><font size=5><span style='font-size:
18.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:5.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:
5.0pt;margin-left:0in;text-autospace:none'><b><i><u><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold;
font-style:italic'>Actors' Summit Celebrates A Cozy Country Christmas</span></font></u></i></b>
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:5.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:
5.0pt;margin-left:0in;text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><br>
Charming is the word for the singing and story-telling now onstage at Actors'
Summit in Hudson. It's unusual to see talented actors who are also accomplished
musicians, but director MaryJo Alexander has assembled a superb cast to
celebrate Sanders Family Christmas.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:5.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:
5.0pt;margin-left:0in;text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><br>
It's Christmas Eve and the congregation of the Mount Pleasant Baptist Church -
that's us, all the folks in the audience - have gathered for the traditional
carol service. But this is 1941 - less than three weeks after the bombing of
Pearl Harbor. Some of our boys have already gone to war. Others, like young
Dennis Sanders, will be on the bus in the morning. We owe them a big send-off,
a touch of home and faith that will strengthen us all in the days to come. Who
better to lead us in song and prayer than the renowned Sanders Family? <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:5.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:
5.0pt;margin-left:0in;text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><br>
When the play opens, Brother Oglethorpe is alone in the sacristy with young June
Sanders. She's the plain, non-singing member of the family who does all the
heavy lifting, including in this case Brother Oglethorpe's spirits. Since the
passing of his beloved Mama last August, things just have not been right with
the tender-hearted, slightly inept Mervin. But it's impossible to stay
depressed around a woman as practical and matter-of-fact as June. She has her
own way of bearing witness, Oglethorpe assures us with more than a little
enthusiasm, but June fails to pick up on these semi-romantic clues. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:5.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:
5.0pt;margin-left:0in;text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><br>
The evening gets off to a strong start as the family enters with that energy
characteristic of people coming in from the cold - a situation with which the
congregation is all too familiar. Soon Mama and Brother Oglethorpe are lobbing
bible verses at each other with almost military precision. "Love one
another," Daddy chides gently, citing chapter and verse. These southern
Baptists are experts at this kind of communication, and their praising of the
Lord covers a wealth of irony. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:5.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:
5.0pt;margin-left:0in;text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><br>
Actors' <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Summit</st1:place></st1:City>
newcomer MaryAnn Elder plays Mama to feisty red-headed perfection, and the
lovely Constance Thackaberry transforms herself into a plain June with
wire-rimmed specs and self-effacing charm. The multi-talented Dana Hart plays
Burl Sanders, the family patriarch, and Keith Stevens shines as the boyish and
befuddled Oglethorpe.<br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:5.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:
5.0pt;margin-left:0in;text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Daniel H. Taylor is Uncle Stanley, the Sanders with a
past, who has just returned from <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Hollywood</st1:place></st1:City>
and a stint with Gene Autry. Jamie Koeth and Kathleen Culler play twins Dennis
and Denise, both blessed with beautiful voices, and accomplished musicians to
boot - he on the guitar and she on the flute. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:5.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:
5.0pt;margin-left:0in;text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><br>
The piece sags a little in the second act, mostly from the all-too-realistic
difficulties of staging Brother Oglethorpe's silly"Christmas in Many
Lands." But the beautiful, old-fashioned carols and the strong, engaging
characters - each with a personal story to tell - keep things moving along
right smartly. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:5.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:
5.0pt;margin-left:0in;text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Sanders Family Christmas is the sequel to Connie Ray's
popular bluegrass musical, Smoke on the Mountain, which introduces the Sanders
family in a similar format. If we're all very, very good and Actors' Summit can
hold on to this strong cast, we may get to see them both in rep next season. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:5.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:
5.0pt;margin-left:0in;text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><br>
arts@clevescene.com <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:5.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:
5.0pt;margin-left:0in;text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'>Sanders Family Christmas Through December 21 Actors'
Summit Theater 86 Owen Brown St., Hudson 330.342.0800 <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:5.0pt;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:
5.0pt;margin-left:0in;text-autospace:none'><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="mailto:arts@freetimes.com">arts@freetimes.com</a>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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