After Buckhannon Community Theatre closed out the year with their performance of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, they have turned their attention to the schedule for next year.
Buckhannon Community Theatre director Dannie Stiles attended a recent Rotary Club of Buckhannon-Upshur meeting to talk about The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and map out their future performances.
“We decided for Christmas, we wanted to get the kids involved again, because last year’s A Christmas Story was a big success. Our summer camp this summer was also a success by bringing kids back into the theater,” Stiles said. “We had enough kids to do two separate kids casts for The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, so the show had a Cast A and a Cast B, which was crazy, but it’s definitely been great to see two kids play the same role and see their different takes.”
All five productions for BCT’s 2025 season will take place at the Colonial Arts Center.
“May 8 through 11, to kick off Strawberry Festival, we will be performing Alice in Wonderland, and I’m sure we’re all familiar with that story. It will be open to ages starting in the fifth grade,” Stiles said. “That’ll be directed by Lea Propst and Julia Sanford, both of whom are active within BCT, and this will be a collaboration between them.”
The McNeish Memorial Theatre Summer Camp will be making a return with a production of Lion King Kids.
“That’ll be a weeklong experience where the kids get to learn costuming, lighting and everything that goes into a production. They learn in the morning, and then in the afternoon, they rehearse,” Stiles said. “Ella McNeish, whose father passed away from pancreatic cancer last year, will direct the kids in the afternoon to their production.”
July 13 through July 19 will see a weeklong production of Mama Mia, followed in the fall with a Halloween show.
“If we have any Harry Potter fans, we’re doing the spoof of Harry Potter for Halloween next year called Puffs. It takes place in the Hufflepuff house during the seven years that Harry Potter takes place in 90ish minutes,” Stiles said. “It’s a lot of fun. There is a lot of improv for that one, and the script is absolutely hilarious.”
BCT will also offer another Christmas show next year, with children collaborating for Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer Junior from December 4 through December 7. That show will be directed by Katie Loudin.
More information and news about BCT can be found on their Facebook page.
