SHAMOKIN - Audiences will learn that 'all you need is love' when you are trying to find your place in the world, as young Abbey will do in "The Roads Family Christmas," premiering this weekend at the Northumberland County Career and Arts Center Auditorium.
Performances will start 7 p.m. Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday at the center's auditorium. Tickets for the show are $5 for adults and $3 for children 12 and under, and will be available at the door.
The show's dialogue has been written and directed by Meagan Baumgartner, who has previously organized talent for "Anthracite Idol," and directed numerous productions for Anne Miles Children's Theater and the Northumberland County Council for the Arts and Humanities, sponsors of the latest production.
More than 25 children, ranging in ages from 5 to 17, will take part in the musical comedy, which tells the story of Abbey and her attempts to join the coolest band in school, Sgt. Richard's Lonely Hearts Club Band, while trying to impress a boy in the group and at the same time, making sense of her family - a creative dad, a mom with her eccentric group of art students in the home, and grandma and her friends, who recall the psychedelic 60s.
The production features the music of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, with no less than 11 songs, including "Help," "I Want to Hold Your Hand," "Here Comes the Sun," "The Long and Winding Road," "I Saw Her Standing There," "All Together Now," "Instant Karma," "All My Loving," "Wonderful Christmastime," "Happy Xmas (War is Over), and the Bob Rivers parody, "All You Need Are Elves."
The show will also feature live music with a four-piece band accompanying singers on the stage.