Westport Country Playhouse Sponsors Holiday Memories Writing Challenge

Westport Country Playhouse is hosting a Writing Challenge for area students, grades K - 8, in conjunction with its Family Festivities presentation of "A Season of Miracles" in December, part of the "Winter at The Playhouse" events. The deadline for submissions is Friday, December 2.

After interviewing a family member on a favorite holiday memory or a treasured holiday tradition, students are invited to compose a short story, theatrical scene or poem depicting their family story in 200 words or less.

"The stories that are told at our family holiday gatherings are sometimes ephemeral and tied to individual memories. We are encouraging children to preserve their own family stories in the written word, much like the stories told in our upcoming presentation of ‘A Season of Miracles,'" said Angela Marroy Boerger, Playhouse Education and Community Programs Coordinator. "The challenge is designed to encourage writing for personal expression outside of the classroom and provide an opportunity for students to spend time with their family during the holiday season."

Submissions will be read by a Playhouse panel and a selection of entries will be posted in The Playhouse lobby during the presentation of "A Season of Miracles," on Sunday, December 11, 1 and 4 p.m. Every entrant will receive a prize voucher for a complimentary frozen yogurt from Pinkberry in Fairfield.

Entries may be emailed to contests@westportplayhouse.org, mailed to Westport Country Playhouse Writing Challenge, 25 Powers Court, Westport, CT 06880, or dropped off at The Playhouse Box Office, Tuesday through Friday, noon to 6 p.m.

Each entry must include: name, parent/guardian's name, age, grade, school, telephone number parent/guardian's email address, and entrant's photo.

"A Season of Miracles," produced by Pushcart Players, is a sparkling collection of holiday tales set to music from different cultures including Christmas ("The Gift of the Magi" and "The Nutcracker"), Kwanzaa ("The Kwanzaa Kite," set in Nigeria), and Chanukah ("A Chanukah Miracle," a Chelm story). Tickets are $15.

Family Festivities Board of Trustees Sponsors are Meredith & David Bukzin; Family Festivities Corporate Sponsors are First Niagara and Peirson & Smith. Family Festivities is also funded in part, by a grant from the Peterson Foundation. Holiday special events corporate partner is Pitney Bowes.

Other "Winter at The Playhouse" events include "The Nutcracker," a holiday ballet presented by Ballet Etudes, on Saturday and Sunday, December 3 and 4, 1 and 5 p.m.; GrooveLily in "Striking 12," the critically acclaimed concert-musical based on Hans Christian Andersen's classic story of "The Little Match Girl," on Saturday, December 10, 4 and 7 p.m.; "Holiday" by Philip Barry, a Script in Hand reading of the beloved romantic comedy upon which the film starring Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn was based, Monday, December 12, 7 p.m.; and The Broadway Boys, a holiday concert Broadway style, on Saturday, December 17, 8 p.m., and Sunday, December 18, 3 p.m.

As a community service during all of the "Winter at The Playhouse" holiday events, The Playhouse will collect gently used coats/jackets to benefit the Community Closet of Bridgeport. Collection boxes will be in The Playhouse lobby through December 18.
For more information, tickets or holiday gift certificates, call the box office at (203) 227-4177, or toll-free at 1-888-927-7529, or visit Westport Country Playhouse, 25 Powers Court, off Route 1, Westport. Tickets are available online 24/7 at www.westportplayhouse.org. Stay connected to The Playhouse on Facebook (Westport Country Playhouse), follow on Twitter (@WCPlayhouse), view Playhouse videos on YouTube (WestportPlayhouse) or get an insider's peek on The Playhouse Blog (www.theplayhouseblog.org).

About The Playhouse

Reimagining itself in recent years, Westport Country Playhouse is rapidly emerging as a nationally recognized professional theater. Under the artistic direction of Mark Lamos and management direction of Michael Ross, The Playhouse creates five live theater experiences, produced at the highest level, from April through November. Its vital mix of works---dramatic, comedic, occasionally exploratory and unusual---expands the audience's sense of what theater can be. The depth and scope of its productions display the foremost theatrical literature from the past---recent as well as distant---in addition to musicals and premieres of new plays. During the summer, The Playhouse is home to the Woodward Internship Program, renowned for the training of aspiring theater professionals. Winter at The Playhouse, from November through March, offers events outside of the main season---Family Festivities presentations, Script in Hand play readings and a Holiday Festival. In addition, businesses and organizations are encouraged to rent the handsome facility for their meetings, receptions and fundraisers.

As an historic venue, Westport Country Playhouse has had many different lives leading up to the present. Originally built in 1835 as a tannery manufacturing hatters' leathers, it became a steam-powered cider mill in 1880, later to be abandoned in the 1920s. Splendidly transformed into a theater in 1931, it initially served as a try-out house for Broadway transfers, evolving into an established stop on the New England straw hat circuit of summer stock theaters through the end of the 20th century.

Today, the not-for-profit Westport Country Playhouse serves as a cultural nexus for patrons, artists and students and is a treasured resource for the State of Connecticut. There are no boundaries to the creative thinking for future seasons or the kinds of audiences and excitement for theater that Westport Country Playhouse can build.
Westport Country Playhouse's five-play 2012 season: "Into the Woods," a beguiling take on timeless fairy tales, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by James Lapine, directed by Mark Lamos, May 1 - 26; "The Year of Magical Thinking," based on the National Book Award Winner by Joan Didion, directed by Nicholas Martin and featuring Maureen Anderman, June 12 - 30; Molière's "Tartuffe," a funny and wise farce, translated by Richard Wilbur, directed by David Kennedy, July 17 - August 4; the world premiere of "Harbor," a comedy about a dysfunctional, loving family, by Chad Beguelin, directed by Mark Lamos, August 23 - September 15; "A Raisin in the Sun," the timeless classic about a black family in 1950s Southside Chicago and their quest for a piece of the American Dream, by Lorraine Hansberry, directed by Phylicia Rashad, October 9 - November 3.

For more information or tickets, call the box office at (203) 227-4177, or toll-free at 1-888-927-7529, or visit Westport Country Playhouse, 25 Powers Court, off Route 1, Westport. Tickets are available online 24/7 at www.westportplayhouse.org. Stay connected to The Playhouse on Facebook (Westport Country Playhouse), follow on Twitter (@WCPlayhouse), view Playhouse videos on YouTube (WestportPlayhouse) or get an insider's peek on The Playhouse Blog (www.theplayhouseblog.org).