Footlight Players to present 'Every Christmas Story Ever Told ... and Then Some!'

This holiday season Coshocton Triple Locks Theater will present "Every Christmas Story Ever Told ... and Then Some!" Under the direction of Shane Pyle, this production has only three actors: Dave Osso, Leonard Hayhurst and Alex Cappel.

Instead of performing Charles Dickens' holiday classic for the maximal time, three actors decide to combine every Christmas story ever told, along with Christmas traditions from around the world, old-time seasonal characters to current pop culture, and every Christmas carol ever sung.

Put on by the Coshocton Footlight Players, the three-person show has actors playing versions of themselves. Leonard is playing Leonard, Dave Osso is Dave the Elf and Alex is playing Alex.

The concept of the play is this theater always does "A Christmas Carol" every year. The three actors decide that rather than performing "A Christmas Carol" again, they will retell every Christmas story ever told in 90 minutes.

The first act is a combination of shorts for "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," "A Charlie Brown Christmas," "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer," "Frosty," "Fruitcake," "Segments of Christmas Around the World" and a game show.

In the second act, they get into "A Christmas Carol" but forgot "It's a Wonderful Life," so they combine the two and Leonard ends up as Ebenezer Bailey. This is a comedy that covers a lot of Christmas shows and traditions.

Alex Cappel plays Alex.

"We're trying to cram 300-400 years of Christmas stories into an hour and a half, playing multiple characters," Cappel said. "The best thing I can say about this is my mom is a play cynic. She has been judging plays since about 1990, helped me run lines in the script and said, 'I have to go see it, just from helping to run lines.' There are some of the fastest costume changes I have ever heard of. It's amazing and unique, and it is a ton of fun."

Dave Osso's character is Dave.

"Even though I'm just one of the three actors, I kind of take more of a director role, and I use it as an outlet for my own frustration with the holidays because I didn't get my Red Rider B.B. Gun when I was a kid and it still haunts me to this day," Osso said. "They have me in a lot of tongue twisters that I have to say, and 'Christmas Around the World' trivia is supposed to be my outlet. For the frustration I have with the holidays, I have discovered it also helps make the holidays more fun for me and that Leonard doesn't quite have the spirit, and that's why he ends up playing Marley. He's kind of sour because we're adults and you're not supposed to believe in Christmas once you're older.

"Alex plays the perfect character as an adult who still believes in Santa. It's great because I'm trying to let Alex be Alex, and if he wants to enjoy believing in Santa, he can, or as Leonard says, 'This is ridiculous; you're an adult.'"

Santa Claus, Rudolph, the Grinch and just about every other holiday character appear in this comedy where three actors decide to tell every Christmas story ever told as well as every Christmas carol ever sung.

The play will run Friday, Dec. 5; Saturday, Dec. 6; Friday, Dec. 12; Saturday, Dec. 13; Friday, Dec. 19; and Saturday, Dec. 20 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 14 at 2:30 p.m.

For ticket information visit www.footlightplayers.com or call 740-622-2959. The theater is located at 685 N. Whitewoman St. in Coshocton.