Temple High School will present A Charlie Brown Christmas — Saturday, December 8 (8 PM) and Sunday, December 9, 2018 (2 PM). There will be only two performances which will take place with the audience seated on the stage with the performers. Cocoa and Christmas Cookies will be served before the show. Tickets $10 in advance, $15 at the door (if still available). Seating will be limited. Audience members must enter through the two blue double doors on the front of the main building, just to the right of the theatre loading dock and to the left of the student center doors. 

Join Charlie Brown (Daniel Salazar), Snoopy (Sierra Amalbert) and the whole Peanuts gang as they grapple with the real meaning of Christmas. When Charlie Brown complains about the overwhelming materialism he sees among everyone during the Christmas season, Lucy (Kerryn Eckenrode) suggests that he become director of the school Christmas pageant. Charlie Brown accepts, but this proves to be a frustrating endeavor. When an attempt to restore the proper holiday spirit with a forlorn little Christmas fir tree fails, he needs Linus’ (Austin Madsen) help to learn what the real meaning of Christmas is.

CLICK HERE for the Information Page that contains a complete cast and production staff list.

NEW 12/09/18:  CLICK HERE for a Facebook Photo Album from a dress rehearsal.

 
Cast members catching snowflakes on their tongues.

Temple High Thespians were very successful during the annual Texas Thespian State Convention, including winning two state championships. The competition was held November 15-17, 2018, at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, TX. There were over 8,200 people attending, including 283 high school and 47 middle school Thespian troupes.

All eight events (100% success) that Temple entered were judged Superior (the highest possible score) and will advance to the International Thespian Festival competition next June in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Both the Team Set Design (Ashlyn Farley, Izzy Poehlmann, Kerryn Eckenrode and D'Andre Wright) and Team Mask Making (Rebecca Alley, Kylie Burke, Olivia Cabrera and Morgan Madsen) teams won the State Championship in their contests. In the team events, students do not know in advance what show or theme they would be designing for, and they had two hours to complete their designs.

Four of the technical entries — Sound (Michael Jones), Costumes (Brianna Alexander), Set Design (Izzy Poehlmann) and Theatre Marketing (Joseph Espinoza) — were all selected as callback finalists to be displayed on the huge video screens during the closing ceremonies. These students went through two rounds of judging.

Izzy Poehlmann won a $1000 scholarship from Texas Thespians and had over 26 callbacks from colleges and universities who were very interested in her and her design talents.

Troupe President Sierra Amalbert was one of only 35 students in Texas selected to perform at the closing ceremonies with Annaleigh Ashford, Tony award winner, who has appeared on Broadway in Wicked (Glinda), Legally Blonde (Margo), Kinky Boots (Lauren) and a revival of You Can't Take It With You.

PHOTOS: CLICK HERE to see a Facebook Photo Album from the state convention.

Performances of Peter Pan will be Thursday through Saturday, October 25-26-27 at 8 p.m. with a Sunday matinee performance on October 28 at 2 p.m. Temple High's annual musical is normally performed in the spring but was moved to the fall this year because renovations affecting the fine arts area will begin November 1. Tickets for the musical will be the same as in previous years — $10 in advance, $15 at the door and $20 for reserved seating. Reserved seats are only available online and the reserved seating area includes the first six rows of the center sections.

Students from the cast and production staff will be selling advanced tickets. Tickets are also available online (with a 50¢ convenience charge per ticket) at SeatYourself.biz.

The version being performed in Temple is the original 1954 Broadway production, which starred Mary Martin as Peter. A 1979 Broadway revival starred Sandy Duncan, while a 1990 revival featured Olympic gymnast Cathy Rigby. NBC broadcast this version as "Peter Pan Live!" in 2014.

Based on J.M. Barrie's classic tale, Peter Pan is one of the most beloved and frequently performed family favorites of all time. This high-flying Tony Award-winning musical has been performed around the world and delighted audiences for 60 years.

Peter (Sierra Amalbert) and his mischievous fairy sidekick, Tinkerbell, visit the nursery of the Darling children (Rebecca Alley, Michael Rodriguez and Nash Belson) late one night and, with a sprinkle of pixie dust, begin a magical journey across the stars that none of them will ever forget. In the adventure of a lifetime, the travelers come face to face with the Lost Boys, a ticking crocodile, a fierce native tribe (with Princess Olivia Cabrera) and a band of bungling pirates headed by the villainous Captain Hook (Sean Mann).

The musical features the iconic songs, "I'm Flying," "I've Gotta Crow," "I Won't Grow Up" and "Never Never Land," and a rousing story full of magic, warmth and adventure. The actors will actually be flying with flying illusions created for the Temple High stage by ZFX Flying Effects.

CLICK HERE for the Information Page showing cast, production staff, and other information.

Peter Pan (Sierra Amalbert) with the Darling Children (Michael Rodriguez, Nash Belson and Rebecca Alley) flying onstage during the Temple High production, October 25-28.

CLICK HERE to see a Facebook Photo Album with more preview photos from Peter Pan rehearsals.

The newspaper article below appeared in the Temple Daily Telegram on October 25, 2018, written and photographed by Melany Cox.

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