Lakewood Theatre readies A LAURA INGALLS WILDER CHRISTMAS for Holiday Run

Lakewood Theatre invites audiences to spend Christmas with Laura, Mary, Carrie, Ma, Pa Ingalls-along with a few surprise visitors-in A Laura Ingalls Wilder Christmas, a play with music, running at Lakewood Theatre December 2-17.

"After all the crops in Walnut Grove are destroyed by locusts, Charles Ingalls and family must travel by wagon to Burr Oak, Iowa to manage a hotel," reads a press release. "The hotel is filled with brawling boarders, and is next door to a saloon. The Ingalls family (particularly Laura) longs for the quieter, simpler life they enjoyed on the prairie. Their circumstances may be dire, but the Ingalls family always manages to find a way."

The show by Laurie Brooks is based on the year that Laura Ingalls Wilder chose not to include in her classic Little House on the Prairie series of books. The actual hotel where the family stayed is now a Historic Museum, offering tours and information on the Ingalls' time there, before they decided to return to Walnut Grove, Minnesota.

A Laura Ingalls Wilder Christmas features a mix of promisingyoung talent and seasoned adult actors. The cast is led by young Lucy Turner in the role of Laura Ingalls. Turner scored a career highlight earlier this season, playing Rhoda Penmark in an acclaimed production of The Bad Seed  at Street Theatre Company in Nashville.

Lakewood Theatre Company, located at 2211 Old Hickory Blvd, in Old Hickory, offers performances Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. The December 11 Sunday matinee performance of A Laura Ingalls Wilder Christmas will feature sign language interpreters for patrons who are deaf or hard of hearing. 

Tickets for all shows are: $12- Adults, $10- Seniors and Students. Opening weekend tickets will be offered for two dollars off, for patrons who bring a canned item for Second Harvest Food Bank. Call (615) 847-0934 to reserve. Online reservations (pay in advance by credit card) are available through TicketsNashville.com. Check www.lakewoodtheatre.com for updates on Lakewood Theatre Company's 32nd season in 2012.