Page 18 Thursday, November 27, 2014 The Westfield Leader and The Scotch Plains – Fanwood TIMES A WATCHUNG COMMUNICATIONS, INC. PUBLICATION

Celebrate the Holiday Season withNew Jersey Festival Orchestra

HAPPY HOLIDAYS...The Presbyterian Church in Westfield is the location for NJ Festival orchestra's annual Home forthe Holidays celebration on Saturday, December 6 at 7 p.m.

Westfield Residents to Perform inChatham Players’ A Christmas CarolCHATHAM – The Chatham Com-

munity Players keeps theirlongstanding holiday tradition alivewith its production of Philip Wm.McKinley & Suzanne Buhrer’s musi-cal adaptation of Charles Dickens’“A Christmas Carol” opening Friday,December 5 and running until Sun-day, December 21. Returningto the Chatham Playhouse,Jeffrey Fiorello of Montclairdirects the show, Jack Benderof Jersey City is the musicaldirector and Megan Ferentinosof Cranford is the Choreogra-pher.

Several actors fromWestfield are making theirdebut at The Chatham Play-house. In the role of TinyTim, Pierson Salvador willtear at your heart every timehe sings. Previous credits in-clude “Alice in Wonderland”with the AlphaNYC TheatreCompany, and “The LittleMermaid, Jr.” and “The Wiz-ard of Oz” at The SundanceSchool Theatre.

Sarah Rappoport’s sweetvoice is heard as Young Fan.Previous credits include“Camp Rock” as Dana Turnerat the Summit Playhouse, “ALittle Princess” as JosephineCarmichael at both theHudson Guild Theatre and ex-tended run at the SignatureTheatre, as well as in “WhiteChristmas” as Susan Waverlyat the Count Basie Theatre.

Andrea Thibodeau will be play-ing Mrs Fezziwig and the Laun-dress in this production. She waslast seen at Cranford DramaticClub’s “Sweeney Todd”. She haspreviously been seen in “Fiddler onthe Roof” as Tzeitel, “Oklahoma!”as Laurey, “Avenue Q” as Kate/Lucy and “Into the Woods” asBaker’s Wife, “Joseph and theAmazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”as the Narrator.

In this version, produced exclu-sively at the Chatham Playhousesince 1988, Dickens serves not onlyas narrator, but also as a characterthat befriends Scrooge and walks

beside him during his life-changingjourney through memories and pre-monitions. While the script remainstrue to the original story, the play-wright also pulled from letters thatDickens wrote to family and friends.The story of Ebenezer Scrooge hasbecome one of the most beloved of

all holiday tales, and this uniqueproduction also reminds us thatDickens’ inspiration for penning thestory goes much deeper.

“As a child, every year, aroundthe Holidays my father would read“A Christmas Carol” to my brothersand me. I guess in his own way hewas trying to do what the characterof Dickens in McKinley’s versionof “...Carol” is doing... that is, toeducate us about the true meaningof Christmas and the care and con-cern for our fellow man,” explainsMr. Fiorello.

In addition to the three actorsfrom Westfield, the large and tal-ented cast includes: Chip Prestera

of Stirling, Alan Semok of Somerset,Scott Baird of Upper Montclair,Samantha Kaplan of Verona, StevenNitka of Hackettstown, Adunni RaeCharles of Maplewood, Will Careyof Glen Ridge, Adrian Rifat of NewYork City, Brielle Raddi of CedarGrove, Maryann and Randy Post of

Madison, Joelle Bochner andEila Francis of Springfield,Jody and Parker Ebert ofPlainfield, Alyssa Franck ofBasking Ridge, Dash Green,Sasha Jacobs, Ryan Grazianoand Meghan Sabin of Chatham,and Graham Helfrick ofMendham.

This marks the seventeenthtime that the Chatham Playershas produced this show. From1988 to 1995, the group pro-duced the show every Decem-ber, and it now produces theshow on a biennial basis.

Mr. Fiorello shared, “I hopethat audiences will come seethis production, and make “AChristmas Carol” a part of theirholiday tradition. A story likethis, with its themes of: a sec-ond chance, re-birth, humani-tarianism, forgiveness, com-passion, love, family values,and hope, are timeless, as time-less as Christmas itself.”

All performances are at theChatham Playhouse, 23 NorthPassaic Avenue, in Chatham.Tickets are $25 for adults and$23 for youth/senior.

Tickets can be purchased at thebox office or online. To access thetheater’s online ticketing service,go to ccp.ticketleap.com. The ser-vice is available 24 hours a day, andtickets can be purchased online upuntil three hours prior to curtain onthe day of a performance. The boxoffice will begin accepting phonereservations on Tuesday, Novem-ber 25 at (973) 635-7363.

The Chatham Community Play-ers has been entertaining residentsof Morris County and the surround-ing area since 1922. For more infor-mation, including details of the re-maining 2014-2015 season, visitwww.chathamplayers.org.

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WESTFIELD – Join Maestro DavidWroe and New Jersey Festival Orches-tra on Saturday, December 6 at 7 p.m. atthe Presbyterian Church in Westfieldfor Home for the Holidays, a familyfestival of traditional and contempo-rary songs and music, sing-alongs andmore guaranteed to make the seasonmerry.

Special guest soprano Mia Pafumiwill join NJ Festival Orchestra to presentboth popular favorites as well as wintercuriosities to welcome in the holidayseason. Traditional carols, signatureversions of familiar fare and a host ofdance favorites are sure to delight.

Other guests include Westfield's Wil-son Elementary School Chorus whowill charm with America the Beautifuland Leroy Anderson’s A ChristmasFestival and lead a rousing finale pre-sentation from “It’s a Wonderful Life”.

“We believe there is something foreveryone in this performance,” saidMaestro David Wroe. “But above all,our program is a vessel for children,parents, grandparents and friends - in-deed the entire community - to cometogether through music and celebratethis unique time of the year.”

This seasonal stroll of timeless clas-sics and sentimental holiday favorites,sure to bring joy, smiles, and distinctiveholiday memories to one and all, has

been made possible in part by a UnionCounty Heart (History, Education andArts Reaching Thousands) Grant andgenerous support from The WestfieldFoundation.

Tickets prices range from $26 to $75for adults and there is a special discountprice of only $13 for students K-12making this event a perfect start to theholiday season for the whole family.

Tickets are also available for NJ Fes-tival Orchestra’s New Year’s Eve musi-cal celebration. This year’s perfor-

mance, The Guys and Dolls of Broad-way, promises a superb revue of Ameri-can musical theater classics and fea-tures renowned guest vocalists directfrom the Broadway stage and beyond.Patrons are advised to purchase ticketswell in advance as this concert has beena sell out for the past five years.

Tickets for both concerts are avail-able on line atwww.njfestivalorchestra.org, by call-ing (908) 232-9400 or visiting the of-fice at 224 E. Broad Street, Westfield.

Pierson Salvador from Westfield as TinyTim and Scott Baird from Upper

Montclair as Bob Cratchit

Photography by RubinsteinIn Gallery at the SP LibrarySCOTCH PLAINS – Photography

by Ellen Rubinstein will be on displayat the Scotch Plains Public Libraryfrom Monday, December 1 to Friday,December 28.

Ms. Rubinstein’s images capturefragments of the beauty of nature. Theyreflect the natural peace surroundingus, focusing on light and form. Natureis continually presenting us with visu-ally striking moments which will neverbe repeated. It is our challenge tonotice, appreciate, and preserve them.

Ms. Rubinstein is a resident of NJ,

and currently teaches at MonmouthUniversity.

A reception will be held on Sunday,December 14 from 1 to 3 p.m.

The exhibit and reception are freeand open to all interested attendees.More information is available onlineat www.scotlib.org, by phone at (908)322-5007 x 204, or e-maillibrary@scotlib.org.

The Scotch Plains Public Library islocated at 1927 Bartle Avenue, oneblock from Park Avenue in the centerof town.

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYSSpecial guest MIA PAFUMISaturday December 6, 2014 at 7pm The Presbyterian Church, Westfi eld

There’s no place like home for the holidays with a family festival of traditional and contemporary songs, music, guest choruses and more. This seasonal stroll of timeless classics and sentimental wintertime favorites is guaranteed to make the season merry. Tickets $26-$75 Students $13

THE GUYS AND DOLLS OF BROADWAYWednesday December 31, 2014 at 7pm

Westfi eld High School, Westfi eld

One of New Jersey’s most popular New Year’s Eve musical festivities, this year’s celebration promises a superb revue of Broadway classics and jazz favorites presented in glorious symphonic splendor and features renowned guest vocalists direct from the Broadway stage. Tickets $40 and $70

FOR MORE INFORMATION GO TO WWW.NJFESTIVALORCHESTRA.ORG VISIT US ON FACEBOOK

CELEBRATE THE HOLIDAYS WITH NEW JERSEY FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA!

CELEBRATE THE HOLIDAYS WITH NEW JERSEY FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA!

DAVID WROE MUSIC DIRECTOR AND CONDUCTOR

From traditional to pops, choral favorites to musical theater classics, this season of NJFO concerts will fi ll the whole family with holiday cheer.

MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS NOW!Order tickets online at www.NJFestivalOrchestra.org

or call at 908-232-9400