Quick, Fun | Christmas Spirit Shines in Winter Play
The Lowell High School Winter Play, “The Great North Pole Bake-Off”, has two shows left this weekend.
Justin Scott - School News Reporter
6 Dec. 2024 - To be published in next week’s printed Lowell Ledger.
Windy, icy, snowy roads on Wednesday night and Thursday morning gave way to clear skies and most importantly roads. Despite the snow day, it was full speed ahead for the opening night of the LHS winter play, “The Great North Pole Bake-Off”.
“I thought the performance was amazing and that it was really fun, the most fun part of the show was teaching the little kids the up on the house top dance and seeing how happy they were performing it onstage,” freshman Bryce Craycraft told the Ledger after the show.
Craycraft who played a dwarf in the fall play, got into theater through his 6th grade drama class with teacher Andrea Struckmeyer. He played one of the reindeer, Prancer, in this year’s show.
Those kids seen up on the stage dancing and singing along to music were LAS students kindergarten through fifth grade. A great chance for them to be up on the stage in a fun and relaxed environment.
Theater veteran Senior Sam Konyndyk plays the role of Jack Frost
The show is one of the g-rated shows on the LHS theater schedule along with the upcoming musical Charlie & the Chocolate Factory. This year’s fall play along with the annual end of year black box theater tend to be more suited for older audiences. Definitely not the case here, this one is a great show for kids.
“It’s the reality show of the season where inhabitants at the North Pole compete to create festive and fun holiday bakes! Hosted by cheery and comedic elves Merry Yuletide and Noel Joyeux, this week’s challenge is cookies inspired by Christmas carols. They will be judged by that merry old soul, Santa Claus, and the chill monarch, the Snow Queen. But grumpy workaholic elf Coal wants everyone to get back to work and not waste time with such trivialities as holiday baking. Will the other inhabitants of the North Pole be able to teach Coal the reason for the season?”
Adelaide Plank and Marley DeJong served as the hosts of the reality show competition, where contestants came to Santa (Brandon Hofmann) and the Snow Queen (Olivia VanGroningen) with their best versions of holiday cookies.
For VanGroningen it was a role she was thrilled for, having enjoyed Elsa from Frozen growing up, which the Snow Queen is loosely based on.
“Theater has been amazing so far because I am a freshman and theatre has made the transition into high school so much better. Theater has brought so many new connections and friendships that I might have never had,” VanGroningen told the Ledger following opening night.
There were plenty of familiar faces from the fall play, not the least of which was DeJong who dropped her bow to end the fall play, opening up The Great North Pole Bake-Off with her opening introduction. Sam Konyndyk on crew for the fall play came back to the stage as Jack Frost. Madilyn Dexter, one of the leads in fall play, played Peppermint. Aundrea Anderson played Coal, a lead elf eager to end the festivities and get back to work.
“My favorite part about this years show was being able to have so much creative freedom to choose costumes, blocking, props, etc. Also, getting the chance to get to know other cast members better,” VanGroningen added. The trio of Spruce, Holly, and Pine were just one of those groups going with unique costuming covered in Christmas bows, colorful skirts, and knee high Christmas themed socks. Molly Inman was one of that trio, she also serves as one of the yearbook photographers at sporting events.
The elementary kids got in on the action wearing the red play shirts along with necklaces made out of Christmas lights, and fun Christmas themed hats like the classic Santa hats. Props for the show included a hearth on one side, sewing station for Mrs. Claus (Izabella Blanchard), and a Christmas themed backdrop.
There are two showtimes left as of this article’s publishing online. Friday at 7:00pm and Saturday at 10:30am. Both shows are held at the Lowell Performing Arts Center at LHS, tickets are just $5 each. A great option for some entertainment for the kids this holiday season. Showtime is pretty quick, running about 40 minutes.
