Holiday Plays at the Hipp

Saturday, Nov. 28, marks the premiere of the Hippodrome’s annual holiday plays, A Christmas Carol and A Tuna Christmas. The theatre is kicking off the season with a double opening day, with A Christmas Carol showing at 2pm and A Tuna Christmas at 7:30pm. After both plays, guests will be treated to food and desserts.

A Christmas Carol is the classic holiday tale of the grouchy Scrooge, who gets visited by the three ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, there to teach him a lesson in kindness. In its 32nd year, this year will be the 20th year Scrooge is played by Rusty Salling, says Kara Winslow, the Hippodrome’s director of development and assistant director of A Christmas Carol.

“A Christmas Carol has been a tradition in Gainesville for over 30 years,” she says. “It’s very special.” Following the play, the cast, including 25 kids, will join audience members to mingle and eat treats provided by Cakes by Jenny Wagner & Co.

At 7:30pm, it’s back to the Mainstage for A Tuna Christmas, a quirky comedy surrounding the members of the Tuna, Texas community and their annual lawn-display contest. This year, the Hippodrome has brought back Mark Chambers, a local favorite all the way from San Francisco to do the play. After A Tuna Christmas, the Hippodrome will be serving up a barbeque dinner courtesy of Jim’s Bar-B-Que. The Cakes by Jenny and Jim's Bar-B-Que foods are free with production tickets.
“This is a fun way to get into the spirit of the holidays,” Kara says. “It’s going to be a great weekend.”

INsite is giving away 4 tickets to both productions. First to e mail sgranadaob@gmail.com wins!

--Stephanie Granada