The O Brien family, from left, Leandra Neb (Angela), Shirley Bowles (Mary Anne), Grace Breneman (Anna), and Dan Schiller (Gabe), is faced with finding medical help in the city for their ailing daughter amidst a harsh winter snow storm. (Courtesy photo)
?Director Terri Dill and her cast of actors and production crew are entering final rehearsals for the 2012 musical dinner theater Christmas drama, ?When Love Came Down,? at the Fort Morgan United Methodist Church.Two performances are scheduled:? Friday, December 14, and Saturday, December 15. For those who choose the dinner theater package, dinner starts at 6 p.m. with the play following at 7 p.m.Tickets in advance are necessary for dinner reservations.
Dill not only directs the show, she is also the playwright and plays the role of a World War I army nurse. Pursuing her childhood pastime into an adult passion, Dill creates her plays with a Christian message based on Biblical references.
The 2012 play is set at the end of WWI in Bridger Falls, a small Minnesota town where the people are as hardy as the winter weather is harsh. Nevertheless, they, like all of us, are beset with problems that test their faith, compassion, and fortitude.
Bridger Falls is a mill town, close knit, but susceptible to life?s trials. Right before Christmas the town is losing their beloved pastor, the church furnace breathed its last breath, and the O?Brien family is the center of attention with a child facing a life-threatening illness. Then there is the town?s favorite son who has been at war and hasn?t been heard from for months.
Bridger Falls? angels watch over them as the town remains unaware of their presence. In the midst of these crises, ?someone? comes to those who need hope, offering comfort and love. Is it the whisper of God?? Dill and the cast and crew invite the audience to come to Bridger Falls to experience the miracle of Christmas, ?When Love Came Down,? punctuated with carefully chosen musical numbers to enhance the action on stage.
?When Love Came Down? features a seasoned cast of character actors including George Saiter, Mitch Church, Jarry and Sue Schaefer, John LaPorte, Leandra Neb, Kelly Geisert, Shirley Bowles, Dan Schiller, and Bob Kula. Also, Mike Hecker, Sarah Butler, Pam Nestor, Dill, Dave Polansky, Christian Hecker, Jeremiah Saiter, Lily Bullard, Gage Stroh, Grace and Kendra Breneman, Mary Lou Schomburg, Carolyn Camp, and townspeople Erin and Laurie Hecker, Alix Keenan-Courter, Julie Weimer, Anne Overturf, Mary Zorn, and Dill.
Terri Eades, Deb Polansky, and Shaun Geisert share the lighting responsibilities; Chris Marymee runs the sound design; and Marj Kramer serves as the accompanist. Patti Kuretich and Joanne Tarman assist Dill with costuming; Zorn and Eades arrange the publicity; Nancy Sailsbery and Leandra Neb manage ticket sales.
Further information and ticket sales (adults $15 and children $10 for dinner theater; adults $7 and children $5 for play only) are available at the UMC office, 117 East Bijou, or at 867-5666.
For over 10 years under the direction of Dill, the United Methodist Church drama ministry has produced Christmas and Easter plays as well as reader theatre performances, skits, and children?s plays. Dill has found it necessary to write many of the plays to accommodate the number of actors wanting to participate in each production.
Her vision of the message and every detail of the performance from sets to music, to casting is a remarkable feat according to assistant director, Mary Zorn.? Dill?s creativity and faith in her actors is the driving force behind the untold hours of work as she brings each play to life.
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