WINCHESTER -- Different people from different times have different cultures, but there are few if any gulfs that friendship and understanding can't bridge.

That's the premise of "Grace & Glorie," the latest production at Winchester Little Theatre under the direction of Roxie Orndorff.

The play, written by Tom Ziegler, tells the story of an old Virginia widow facing terminal cancer and how her life changes when a whirlwind arrives in the form of Gloria, a recent transplant from New York City turned hospice volunteer.

When Gloria volunteers to help hospice patients, the clash of cultures is apparent -- and entertaining.

"When they first meet, neither one has much use for the other," said Orndorff. "I think Gloria realizes that she's way out of her element when she walks into that rustic cabin."

"Grace is very independent, and 'set in her ways,' as she says many times during the play," she said. "Their cultures are very divergent."

The friction between the two women is the energy that makes the technically challenging, two-woman show possible.

Holding an audience is no mean feat for a large cast. Doing it with just two actors on stage at any given time is even more difficult.

"It's not a farce, it's not running in and out and slamming doors. It's very conversational, very moment to moment driven," she said.

"You feel the tension. They have a rocky start, but the resistance that each one has, trying to resist liking the other is the energy" that keeps the audience engaged, Orndorff said.

That's one reason bringing "Grace" to life has been quite a challenge for actress Jude Wynne.

While the intimacy of a two-person scene isn't that much of a challenge on a movie or television screen, it's a major feat for a live stage production.

"A two character play is extraordinarily intense. It's my first experience doing one," she said.

And much of "Grace & Glorie" is the quiet interplay between the two women on their path to friendship.

"The whole dynamic of the play is between two people," Wynne said. "I'm finding that extremely challenging."

There were some more practical considerations for the actress, as well.

Preparation for the part included "listening to Virginia accents, that's for sure," Wynne said. "Because Grace is a mountain woman, and I'm as Yankee as they come."

Pre-production work wasn't quite done earlier this week, but a sneak peak at the sets showed production values to be high.

Grace's cabin, the one set for the play, was filled with vintage furniture and fixtures guaranteed to rekindle memories of childhood visits to the homes of great-grandparents in some viewers.

The set carries the slightly claustrophobic feel of a small place packed with the possessions of a lifetime.

"It's not a comfy little, cozy feeling cottage," Orndorff said. "Her grandson takes her home from the hospital and dumps her in the cottage and leaves."

"She's had all the things from her big house moved here, because she's sold her farm," she said. "She's been allowed to stay here until she passes, and then they're going to tear this down, too."

Music, three old-time hymns in particular, also plays a special role in the play. Orndorff said the recordings were "awesome" and were a fantastic addition to the atmosphere of Grace's Virginia homestead.

A piece of Grace's fictional home will help some real hospice patients.

The Brumfield Quilters, from Warrenton, heard about the production and stitched a quilt containing blocks of material salvaged at an estate sale.

Some pieces appear to be more than 75 years old, according to the quilters.

Grace's Flower Garden, as the quilt is called, will be raffled off after the show closes to raise money for Blue Ridge Hospice.

Contact Garren Shipley at gshipley@nvdaily.com

STRASBURG -- Mrs. Santa Claus and her helpers will be visiting Hotel Strasburg a few days before Christmas for some refreshments and classical music entertainment -- Victorian style.

For the first time in its history, the Masterworks Chorus of the Shenandoah Valley will host "A Victorian Christmas Tea" event at 2 p.m. on Saturday at the historic hotel at 213 S. Holliday St. The event's location comes as no coincidence, as Hotel Strasburg is an actual Victorian facility. The hotel was originally built as a private hospital in 1902.

"We thought it would be a wonderful holiday opportunity for people to come towards the end of the month to bring in their wives and their daughters and granddaughters to a lovely afternoon tea," said chorus conductor Betty Karol Wilson. "We thought it would be nice to have a tradition of an intimate rendition of music and celebration ... We're thinking this is going to become an annual tradition. And, we just wanted to start with something kind of small and modest this year and see what sort of response we got to it. A tea [party] is a great place for ladies of all ages, from little, young women in their Christmas dresses to ladies in their mature years."

Wilson said she developed the idea of hosting the Victorian event based on her prior musical experiences in Boston.

"For many years, I sang with the Boston Pops Orchestra [during the Christmas holidays.] And, one of the things I noticed being a part of the chorus there was that people like to have a Christmas tradition that they can bring their family to," Wilson said. "So, I thought, 'well, what can we do here in Shenandoah County that would be something on a much smaller scale?'"

The chorus is expecting a crowd of about 50 people, Wilson said. Tickets for the event are $25 for adults and $12 for children ages 5 to 11. The event will feature a buffet of finger foods and sweets and musical performances from members of the chorus. Mrs. Santa Claus and carolers will also appear, as will local magician Ralph McPhail, Wilson said.

It has already been a busy December for the 50-member chorus, as it recently wrapped up its concert series held earlier this month in Strasburg, Woodstock and New Market. The shows drew more than 500 people, something chorus members consider a great accomplishment.

"That's about 150 people more than we have had in the past," Wilson said. "December is always a very busy month for any singing group because people enjoy hearing Christmas carols."

Wilson said about eight members of the Masterworks Chorus of the Shenandoah Valley will be on hand to perform songs that would have been sung in the Victorian period, including such selections as "God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman" and "Oh Come All Ye Faithful."

The chorus will also look to perform songs that will appeal to its younger audience members.

"I'm sure with children in the room, somewhere we'll sneak in something like 'Jingle Bells,' which is also Victorian, or 'Rudolph [the Red-nosed Reindeer.]' What's Christmas without a little bit of that child [oriented] music?" Wilson said.

Wilson said the event will also be "a lovely chance to have an opportunity to be close to the performers."

"In a small setting, we can sing right at your table. Rather than in a concert setting, where we might be in the front of the church and you might be several yards away from us," Wilson said. "So, it's nice to have the music right up close.

Guests who attend Saturday's event may also learn a few lessons about tea etiquette.
"For someone who's bringing their granddaughter, I think that will be a very special moment for the granddaughter and grandmother to have tea together at Christmas," said Wilson, a Richmond native.

The Masterworks chorus will hold two more concert series in March and May. The concert series in March will feature songs centered around the theme of love, while the series in May will feature the music of Mozart. The chorus will begin rehearsing in January for its spring season.

Singers in the area who would like to join the chorus can contact Wilson at 740-8841. For additional information, you can also visit its Web site at www.masterworkschorus.com. The Masterworks chorus is in its 12th season.

Contact Linwood Outlaw III at loutlaw@nvdaily.com

MIDDLETOWN -- In the parlor of Belle Grove Plantation, a Christmas tree stretches to the ceiling, but it's the hundreds of tiny eyes peering from under the big evergreen that create a magical scene.

"A Child's Christmas at Belle Grove" is the theme for the holiday season, making iPods, Guitar Hero and Bratz dolls seem futuristic by comparison.

From antique dolls from famed Madame Alexander to older dolls with faces stretched from chicken skin, the collection is as varied as it is enormous.

It's as if the eyes looking back at little museum visitors will transport them back in time, when dolls and simple wooden toys were part of the wonder of Christmas.

Virginia Hedrick Beeler loved children, teaching for nearly half a decade in Shenandoah County -- most of her career spent in elementary classrooms, says her daughter, Laura Ellen Wade, guest curator for the exhibition. Her mother also taught Sunday school for children for more than 60 years.

Beeler died last year at age 97.

"They were just like her children. She loved dolls and she loved children," says Wade.

The dolls are just as beloved to Wade, Beeler's only child, representing more than a century of collecting, with her great-grandmother handing the dolls down to her mother.

Wade immediately goes to a glass display case on a recent morning that holds her mother's seven original childhood dolls, dating back to 1939. A doll in a tiny bed is missing part of its hand, which Beeler chewed off as a child, her daughter says. Another has a shiny porcelain face and is wearing a bright, red dress. It is evident many of these dolls weren't for real play.

"Her grandmother gave them to her and the collection grew," says Wade.

Her grandmother dressed many of the dolls, says Wade, including details like tiny crocheted hats and purses, the latter of which each contain a penny, to doll-sized jewelry.

Because of Beeler's love of dolls and her role in so many children's lives, she was often given dolls by people in the community, who brought them back from places ranging from Bethlehem to Korea. Cards in the exhibit specify who gave her mother the dolls.

Wade points out some larger dolls wearing dresses worn by her mother. Her grandmother would save them for the dolls, and old black-and-white photos are placed near them.

Boy dolls weren't as common, but the exhibit contains some of those, as well.

Baby Grumpy, dressed all blue, doesn't look too happy to be a doll. These dolls were made between 1914 and 1925. There's also a cloth doll, Rastus, whose face adorned Cream of Wheat boxes for decades.

In one bedchamber, a doll stands next to a handcrafted wooden highboy. The detailed reproduction was made in Williamsburg and looks ready to be filled with tiny doll finery. In Belle Grove's nursery, a doll is reclined on a tiny fainting couch. Another looks ready to mount a tiny horse.

The oldest dolls in the collection are grouped together, some 200 years old. English peddler dolls carry their wares with faces made of stretched chicken skin. A French fortune teller doll has tiny paper fortunes hidden under her wide skirt. Frail-looking shell dolls were made off the coast of Britain. French fashion dolls line another area. Made to look like adult women rather than little girls, the dolls don the latest in French fashion of that period, the 1870s to the 1890s.

The first patented doll in America was made in 1858.

A George Washington doll is really a German candy container. Another German bisque doll, dating to 1905, actually has three faces that can be turned to fit a child's mood. Another doll hides a pin cushion under her skirt. Larger dolls have actual hoop skirts under their dresses. The details and the craftsmanship of these toys is unsurpassed, as doll makers worked to shrink down the real to fit the dolls.

Wade estimates that she has 800 dolls produced in various media, including china, bisque, cloth, paper mache, wood, wax and parian.

A doll plays a tiny piano on the dining room table of Belle Grove.

"It's just wonderful for us to have and be able to show these dolls," says Craig Orndorff, program coordinator for Belle Grove. "I understand the attention had to be paid to every little detail and at Belle Grove, we like to highlight craftsmanship."

Up until the time of her death, Beeler would travel with her daughter to national doll shows in larger metropolitan areas, always looking for that special doll to add to her collection.

The first time the dolls were exhibited at Belle Grove was in 1984. This season they are accentuated by a variety of seasonal plants and decorations provided by area garden clubs.

Call Belle Grove Plantation at 869-2028 or go online to www.bellegrove.org for holiday hours and admission.

*Contact Natalie Austin at naustin@nvdaily.com

WINCHESTER -- As Winchester Little Theatre prepares to perform its holiday production, "It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play," it reaches out to more valley residents than ever before.

Doug Saffell, as Mr. Potter, and Rich Adema, as George Bailey, rehearse a scene from the Winchester Little Theatre's production of "It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play." Dennis Grundman/Daily Children in the production are, from left, Sean Markland, as Pete; Alex Swigart, as Tommy; Anne O'Donnell, as Young Violet; Maddie O'Brien, as Young Mary; and Danielle Mango, as Zuzu. Dennis Grundman/Daily More information "It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play" will be presented Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. at Winchester Little Theatre at 315 W. Boscawen St. The box office at WLT will be open Monday through Saturday from 3 to 6 p.m. Ticket prices are $10 for adults and $5 for children under 18. For tickets or more information, call 662-3331 or visit the Web at www.wltonline.org

The success of the show over the past two years encouraged director Jerry Tracy to continue presenting it as the annual Christmas program, but this year will allow the medium of the live radio program to entertain an even wider audience -- both in the old train station theater on Boscawen Street and over the airwaves, with the hope of also attracting more interest in the performing arts.

"For us it was just about having a Christmas event, which we hadn't had [before]," Tracy says of the original choice to perform the live radio show format on stage.

Two years ago the theater chose to perform "It's a Wonderful Life" partly because it is an iconic story that most people know and cheerfully anticipate each year. It was not something that was commonly available on stage during the holidays, like "A Christmas Carol" or "A Christmas Story," says Tracy.

"It comes with every Christmas," Tracy says of the movie version, starring Jimmy Stewart. Tracy says he hopes the local production will as well.

"It really grew out of Readers' Theatre," Tracy says. The theater performs its Readers' Theatre throughout the year, emphasizing the power of the written word, as actors are allowed to read from their scripts while performing. Group auditions for Readers' Theatre are three or four times a year, and performances will be on the fourth Saturday of each month beginning in January, Tracy says.

Tracy says he has seen "It's a Wonderful Life" performed as a live radio show elsewhere with a cast of only five or six people, though the script offers 65 distinct voices. WLT has a cast of more than 20, including child actors.

"This year, unlike last year, we have kids playing kids," Tracy says. He had been forced to cast adults in the roles of children previously because he simply had not had any children audition for the show. This year, however, between 70 and 80 people showed up for auditions, adults included.

"That's a very large number for us," he says.

Many of the cast and crew are new to WLT this year.

"We like the theater, but we've never been in any productions before," says Steve Markland, who is performing with his family in this year's production.

Markland plays Peter Bailey, George Bailey's father, among other smaller roles; his wife, Reen, and younger son, Sean, are on sound effects and his older son, Scott, plays Sam Wainwright.

"It's just a fun thing to do with the family -- a new experience," Markland says.

One of his favorite movies, "It's a Wonderful Life" appeals to other cast and crew members, new and old.

John Doherty plays Clarence the Angel, who guides George Bailey along a journey through what the lives of those around him would be like if he had never been born.

"He's trying to earn his wings so he's trying very hard to help George, the main character," he says.

A retired foreign service officer, Doherty has performed in 25 plays in the last 25 years, he says.

Despite his experience in the theater, the role of Clarence is significant for him because, not only has he always loved the story of "It's a Wonderful Life," but also the character is so different from some of his former roles.

"Last season I was an old curmudgeon," he says, referring to his role in WLT's production of "Broadway Bound."

Prior to that, Doherty played a villain in "Little Family Business," a character he describes as "a fairly ugly person."

"He's probably the worst character I've ever played," Doherty says of the paranoid racist who worries that everyone around him is a communist.

"It's much easier to play an angel than a villain," he says. "It's just a wonderful, warm, sympathetic character," he says.

One of WLT's three live performances will be recorded and replayed over the radio on Winchester's 92.5 WINC-FM at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Christmas Day.

This will offer audiences a different means in which to react to the show. In the theater, they will be able to see the cast members standing behind their microphones and reading from their scripts as if they were actors performing the show in a 1940s radio studio. Members of the audience will interact with the cast and crew, who will perform all of the sound effects for the play, such as walking on Corn Flakes to simulate the sound of someone crunching on snow, or breaking glass in the bar fight scene.

Those listening at home on Dec. 25 will hear the voices and the sound effects in the same way in which someone living in the '30s or '40s might have listened to the show at home, years before the movie was released in 1946.

The recorded version will allow more people access to the production, Markland says, though he says he still hopes those interested will come to the theater.

"I think they'll still enjoy the play ... but it's just a different venue," he says of listening to it at home. "I think there's just a different appreciation."

* Contact Josette Keelor at jkeelor@nvdaily.com

WINCHESTER -- While his wife and daughters are sleeping, Patrick Beltran is hard at work in the basement of the family's four-bedroom home on Wood Avenue, plying his craft as a screenwriter.

Patrick Beltran sits in his home office in Winchester with his cat, Holmie, and his golden retriever, Charlie. Beltran and his partner, Lu Ugaz from Annandale, were finalists in the 2008 Virginia Screenwriting Competition. Rich Cooley/Daily

In 2005, Beltran won first place in the 20/20 screenwriting competition in California for his work, "Hound of Heaven." While he has had a measure of success, Beltran says he is still hopeful that one of his screenplays will be picked up and made into a movie.

"I would love to achieve that," he says. "I have spent a lot of years kind of working on the craft of writing and trying to get there. I recognize that it's a very difficult road and I may never have the opportunity to see my screenplays get made into a movie. I guess recently I've come to the conclusion that that's OK. I'm OK with it if it never happens. I'd be thrilled to death if it did happen. A lot of what I get out of it is just telling stories."

Beltran grew up in Falls Church and has lived in Winchester for the past eight years with his wife, Sara. They have three daughters, Maria, 22, Angela, 18, and Susan, 13.

In addition to being a family man, by day Beltran works as a business analyst for GTSI Co., a Herndon firm specializing in information technology solutions for the federal government.

However, it's his nighttime endeavor that's his passion as he writes screenplays in the cozy confines of his basement with Charlie, a golden retriever, and Holmie, an alley cat, keeping him company.

Beltran says this was the first time he and partner Ugaz, who is in Los Angeles on business, had entered the Virginia competition, which this year included 108 entries from state residents or students.

"It was particularly sweet because we actually struggled quite a bit with this screenplay," Beltran says. "The first draft, we essentially threw out. By the end of it, we just weren't sure. Is this any good? Did this capture what we were trying to do? They actually sent along with the letter that we got that said that we were finalists a sheet of some of the judges' comments and those comments were very gratifying."

"A Modest Proposal" is about "A klutzy children's author who wants to propose to his sophisticated girlfriend, hires a marketing consultant to help him craft a plan and ends up falling in love with her," according to a news release from the Virginia Film Office.

"This intelligent and interesting script has all the elements of a fine film," says one judge. "The premise is unique which always makes for a charming romance ... an excellent script."

Beltran says "Hound of Heaven" is based on the true story of British poet Francis Thompson, who lived in the late 1800s.

"It almost sold," Beltran says. "It came very close to selling, but in the end, it did not."

Undeterred, Beltran continues his quest, literally burning the midnight oil.

"When I'm in the groove, I will usually work from when my wife goes to bed probably steady two or three hours after that," he says. "Not every night, but many nights out of the week depending on what stage of writing I'm in because at certain stages, I'm just doing research, other stages I'm full into the actual writing. When I'm into it, it's pretty regular, probably five or six nights a week for two to three hours."

Beltran says his wife supports his late-night habit.

"My wife has been very supportive, especially during those times when I'm buying tickets to go out to California to pick up this one award or when I'm staying up late working during the middle of a screenplay," he says. "Yes, she has the patience of a saint and she would like nothing better to see me succeed on this, as well."

Beltran has been honing his craft for about a decade.

"It's been kind of a consuming passion for a while, which is one of the reasons I was attracted to the 'Hound of Heaven' story because it is inspired by the true story of Francis Thompson," Beltran says. "I definitely see it as an art form and I do feel driven to write, to tell stories. 'Hound of Heaven' is a period piece, kind of dark and gritty about a guy that writes poetry. It's not exactly blockbuster material, but I connected very deeply with that story and I needed to tell it, so yeah, it's very much an art form for me."

Like most things, becoming a successful screenwriter is a combination of hard work and getting a break.

"It's part preparedness," Beltran says. "You have to know the craft and you have to work hard at doing it. But it's also part blind luck. Being in the right place at the right time or having the right person see something at just the right moment. They talk about genius being 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration. Screenwriting I think is kind of the same thing. It's probably 90 percent perspiration and 10 percent just luck ... It's kind of an elusive formula for many, many people. I'm still looking for it."

The competition is fierce, Beltran says, adding that no matter how good the script is, it still has to get in front of the right person.

"It's the same as a novel or a short story," he says. "You have to have an idea, a concept that will excite people, characters that kind of jump off the page and feel real. It helps if it doesn't cost too much to make."

"I think concept is king," Beltran adds. "Execution is critical. If the idea is good enough, you'll get somebody's attention. It'll make waves. But, one of the real problems is, it's very hard to get anybody to look at something. It really is, which is one of the good things about contests is, if you send something in to a contest and get some publicity from that for doing well, then that's one of the [guides] that people use."

Like most serious screenwriters, Beltran reads lots of screenplays and participates in online groups where writers' critique each other's works.

"If you've read enough screenplays, you can pretty much tell in the first 10 pages if this thing is gonna be any good or not," Beltran says. "I mean you can tell whether it's worth giving the rest of it a chance to look at it. I think it's true that that's the way they do it. ... They're looking for reasons to pass, to say no. Nobody gets fired in Hollywood for saying 'no.' They get fired if they say 'yes' and the movie bombs."

The goal, Beltran says, is to make the reader want to keep turning the page.

"You hope you can hit that," he says.

Beltran laughs when asked if he would give up his day job if his screenplays start selling.

"Well," he says, "let's just say that I'll be looking forward to having to make that decision."

To read excerpts from some of Beltran's screenplays, visit the Web site, www.WinningScripts.com and enter his name in the search box.

* Contact Ben Orcutt at borcutt@nvdaily.com

FRONT ROYAL -- As she packages up her homemade Nordic goodies, Evine Eriksson quips she has "the need to knead."

Evine Eriksson wraps up loaves of bread in preparation for sale. Dennis Grundman/Daily

Her Rivermont home, a converted church, overflows with Scandinavian cookies, bread and sweets.

All the baked goods will be taken to Union Station in Washington, where the Sons of Norway will sell them as part of the Norwegian Christmas at Union Station. All the other Norwegian baked goods she makes throughout the year are given away.

Eriksson lays braided loaves on a table in the center of her kitchen. It's pulla, a sort of Swedish coffee bread.

"It's kind of the Lucia bread, [for] the Santa Lucia [feast day], which is the 13th [of December]," Eriksson says as she brushes the pulla with egg whites.

She then dusts granulated sugar on the bread before sprinkling it with large sugar balls from Sweden.

Although she was born in Brooklyn, Eriksson's life is heavily influenced by Norway. She has lived in Warren County for 22 years, but had visited often since her mother, who was of Scots-Irish descent, was born in Bentonville.

Eriksson grew up in a Scandinavian neighborhood in Brooklyn, and was even born in the Norwegian hospital there. Her father immigrated to the U.S. from Norway. Her family was very proud of their Norse roots.

While Eriksson was able to recently travel to her ancestral homeland, her late father never got to return before his death.

"When he left, it was the poorest country, and right now, it's one of the richest," she says.

Her son, Karl, took Eriksson to Norway, and they saw where her father was born and visited relatives.

"I never dreamed I would go," she says.

Eriksson's late husband, Ronald, was also a first-generation American. He was of Swedish descent.

"My mother learned [Norwegian baking] from her mother-in-law," Eriksson says.

Her mother and her father's sisters, in turn, passed the skills on to her.

Eriksson has been donating baked goods to the Sons of Norway for about a decade. She's not a member since the lodge is so far away.

For her next sweet treat, Eriksson gets out the dough she's made for fattigmann cookies. She flours her table before rolling out the dough.

"Down in D.C., this is what they want the most," she says. "Everyone wants them and no one wants to make them.

"They take time."

The fattigmann dough, spiced with cardamom, is rolled very thin, and then Eriksson takes a fattigmann roller, which makes diamond-shaped cutouts with a hole in the middle.

She rolls each piece up, pushing one end through the hole. They will be fried in lard later.

"I would be afraid if I used something else that it would not [turn out right], they would stay moist or something," Eriksson says. "This is a great cookie if you like brandy. There's brandy in it, but I like to drink brandy with it.

"If you don't have these, you don't have Christmas."

Her brother, Bob Johnsen, came over to help with the fattigmanns the previous night.

"He will stand there and fry them and I cut them," Eriksson says. "But, he especially likes to eat them."

Eriksson, who works in the radiology department at Warren Memorial Hospital, used to have a shop in her home where she sold Scandinavian imports and her own baked goods. That closed about 12 years ago.

"My mother made white bread," she says. "I made different breads and the different cookies people wanted."

Typical Norwegian cooking is heavy on the cream, Eriksson says, and "bland for sure."

"You have a lot of almonds, cardamom," she adds.

Creamed fish and creamed vegetables are common.

Cookies and pulla take up most available surfaces in Eriksson's dining room and spill into the living room.

The rolled krumkaker, resembling a wafer-thin homemade waffle cone, can be filled with berries and whipped cream. The paper-thin pepperkakers are heart-shaped and have a gingerbread taste to them.

A round almond-flavored shortbread cookie, called the sandkaker, can be filled with whipped cream and berries, or even ice cream.

Eriksson says she does make one American cookie, which she calls farm chips. They're also called cow chips, but since she had cows, she didn't think selling a cookie called cow chips made good business sense.

While she started selling cookies in 1987, Eriksson baked for her three children when they were young.

Preparing, baking and packaging the goodies -- the pulla in clingfilm, the cookies on paper doilies in plastic containers -- has been nearly a weeklong task for Eriksson. But, it seems to be a labor of love for her.

"I enjoy it," Eriksson says. "I just love it. It's relaxing. I guess I have the need to knead."

* Contact Sally Voth at svoth@nvdaily.com

WINCHESTER -- First Night Winchester will ring in the new year for the 23rd time on Dec. 31, with a collection of shows, activities and fireworks in downtown Winchester.

The Yesterday Swing Orchestra, an 18-piece ensemble, will perform at First Night Winchester on Dec. 31. COURTESY PHOTO

As always, First Night is an alcohol-free, family-oriented affair.

A major addition this year aimed at the teenage set is the Battle of the Bands, said Kat Bronson, of the Top of Virginia Regional Chamber, introducing the event sponsored by the Youth Development Center.

"Normally, the Youth Development Center would do a dance, but as we have been told that's kind of passé," Bronson said.

This year, high school revelers are invited to judge an "American Idol-style" contest pitting the region's best young musicians against one another in an all-out fight for musical supremacy.

Preliminary rounds have drawn big crowds, and organizers expect significant numbers to turn out and cheer on their four favorite groups.

Bands will perform multiple rounds, including one in which they'll get helpful critiques from local radio personalities.

The battle runs from 9 to 11:30 p.m. on the steps of the old courthouse on Loudoun Street.

This year's festival will also have a mild environmental twist, according to First Night Winchester Chairwoman Sally Coates.

Smaller programs make for less waste. Recycling bins, rather than generic trash cans, will be set up throughout the downtown pedestrian mall and other venues.

City leaders want to try out recycling at large events to see if the idea will work at the region's biggest festival in the spring.

"If it works for us, then it happens for Apple Blossom," she said.

Also scheduled to appear for First Night Winchester are:

* Dinorock Productions. Lovable characters rendered with puppets and full-body costumes introduce children to the world of science with a subject sure to interest all comers, dinosaurs.

* Chris McDaniel. Back for a return engagement, McDaniel is a trick-roping artist from New York who combines cowboy-themed magic with roping and bullwhips.

* Andrew McKnight. Known for his unique country-folk sound, the Middleburg singer-songwriter will perform three shows at First Night, including selections from his current CD, "Something Worth Standing For."

* Yesterday Swing Orchestra. The 18-piece ensemble under the direction of Bob Johnson is a staple of any First Night.

* The Unicycle Lady. Billed as a "one woman wheelie witty wacky silly suitcase circus," the performer in this one-woman show transforms herself into a broad array of circus performers. A quick change of a hat takes her from mime to magician, to clown, to animal tamer and more.

Buttons, good for admission to all events, are $8 per person before Dec. 24 and $12 per person afterward.

* Contact Garren Shipley at gshipley@nvdaily.com

Performances by Peter McCrory's one-man band show, magician John Swomley and the O-Zone's Awesome Obstacle Course bounce house are being postponed. The equipment by each of these performers cannot be exposed to temperatures below 40 degrees, according to a press release from Old Town Development Director Karen Helm.

Christmas carol performances by the Grace Community Church at 3:30 p.m. and Musica Viva at 4 p.m. as part of the tree lighting ceremony will go on as scheduled, the release states. The Snowflake Scramble 1-mile run for ages 4-12 will still begin at 10 a.m.
Santa will light the tree in front of the Old Court House Museum at 4:45 p.m. after the "holiday stroll," which chaperoned, "festively dressed" may join at the south end of the mall.

-- Daily Staff Report

MIDDLETOWN -- The return of "A Christmas Carol" to Wayside Theatre will hearten traditionalists who crave their annual fix of that holiday entertainment staple. But even those who have had more than their fill of Scrooge and Co. will likely suppress the urge to mutter "bah, humbug" at the charming musical version that opened Sunday.

William Diggle, left, as Scrooge, and Emily Crawford, as Christmas Past, are now appearing in Wayside Theatre's "A Christmas Carol." COURTESY PHOTO

The basics of Dickens' tale are all there -- crusty old Ebenezer, the ghosts, the flashbacks, the pitiable Cratchits and, of course, Tiny Tim -- but Warner Crocker and Steve Przybylski have reimagined the story -- trimming here, shifting focus there -- to produce a tighter, fleeter production.

The fluid staging by Crocker, Wayside's artistic director, minimizes static standard scenes. Instead, much of the cast remains on stage throughout, hovering on the fringes, often commenting on the action like a Greek chorus. At other points they roam the aisles and the balcony and even portray scenery such as door knockers and Scrooge's desk.

The liberating, even at times rambunctious, mood is enhanced by Przybylski's tuneful music, which ranges from festive ditties to more plaintive ballads. Traditional carols also make an appearance and Przybylski's deft keyboard work is augmented by the probably unique combination of fiddle and accordion.

The large cast, including a gaggle of area youth, sings well and hits all the requisite dramatic emotional chords, from glee to pathos.

William Diggle, the opening night Scrooge, was a rather bland misanthrope, but he nimbly conveyed Ebenezer's anguish at his misbegotten past.

Richard Follett was both the high-spirited Fezziwig and the conniving Old Joe. James Fleming made Jacob Marley's torment excruciatingly palpable. They trade roles at some performances.

Sun King Davis was the stately Ghost of Christmas Present and Larry Dahlke the pathetic Bob Cratchit. Thomasin Savaiano was both the long-suffering Mrs. Cratchit and Mrs. Fezziwig. She's also the choreographer.

An alternate cast appears at some performances.

Til Turner's set frames the stage with curvy panels that evoke the London skyline. Tamara M. Carruthers and Catherine Lovejoy provide the clutch of costumes. Paul M. Callahan supplies complementary lighting.

"A Christmas Carol" continues through Dec. 28. The box office phone number is 869-1776.

* Contact John Horan at jhoran@nvdaily.com

New Market, Mt. Jackson, Edinburg, Woodstock and Strasburg all have events planned for the third annual Christmas Along the Old Valley Pike, scheduled for Friday and Dec. 6.

New Market, a press release states, also will have a gingerbread house workshop at the Congress Street Publik House on Dec. 7, as well as Dec. 14.

Shops throughout the county will be open next weekend, and residents and tourists can get festive by going to a parade followed by caroling Friday at 6 p.m. in Woodstock; watching a parade Dec. 6 at 1 p.m. in New Market, 4 p.m. in Strasburg and 5 p.m. in Edinburg; and listening to elementary and high school pupils perform music Saturday at 6 p.m. in Mt. Jackson, the release states.

For more information, contact the county tourism office at 459-6227.

-- Daily Staff Report

BASYE -- Have some snow with that leftover turkey and dressing.

T.J. McCarrick, 14, left, and his brother Dillon, 8, of Baltimore, climb a snow mound at Bryce Resort on Tuesday. The resort plans to open the slopes this Friday. Rich Cooley/Daily Dillon McCarrick, 8, of Baltimore, relaxes after climbing a mound of snow along the slopes at Bryce Resort on Tuesday. Rich Cooley/Daily

Although Bryce has made snow in November in previous years, consistently cold nights this month have given the resort an opportunity to make snow several nights in a row, which is enabling it to open ski season earlier than nor-mal, mountain manager Ryan Locher said.

What opening on Thanksgiving weekend might mean to business remains to be seen, he said.

"We don't know," Locher said. "It's a new thing for us. We'll give it a shot."

As has been the case in recent years, major upgrades to the resort's snowmaking abilities were made again heading into this ski season. This time, 46 additional power guns were purchased and used to prepare White Lightning, which is normally the last slope to open, Locher said.

"There's a significant difference in the quality and volume of snow [that can be made]," he said.

As much as 4,100 gallons of water per minute can be shot up the hill during snowmaking, Locher said. Along with the replacement of some pipeline on the White Lightning trail, the cost of the upgrades was around $200,000, he said.

It's money that needs to be spent, though, to offer a high-quality product, Locher said. And this ski season may be particularly important to Bryce to capitalize on what it has to offer -- the down economy could stand to benefit the local ski resort, he said.

"It's not going to hurt us as much as out West," Locher said. "People are less likely to go out there on a flight and ski."

New for the resort this year are two webcams, which can be viewed by visiting www.bryceresort.com. Snapshots of two areas at the resort are updated every two minutes.

Bryce will be open for skiing from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Friday and will be open during weekends to start the season. For more information, call 800-821-1444, ext. 229.

* Contact Preston Knight at pknight@nvdaily.com

MIDDLETOWN -- Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" returns to Wayside Theatre this year, but along with its familiar tale of the meaning of Christmas, it brings messages of change and hope for the future.

The timeless tale tells of Ebenezer Scrooge, who is visited by a stream of spirits who force him to look back on his life, notice the suffering of those around him, and ultimately choose whether to change his miserly ways. Director Warner Crocker says he feels the story behind this year's holiday production is relevant to the valley's own Christmas present -- a time when many people are suffering from economic difficulties.

"A Christmas Carol" is a story about hard economic times, and how the characters are determined to celebrate the holiday even though they worry about how they will survive from one day to the next.

"They have meaning in any year, but they have more resonance this year," Crocker says of the characters.

In recent years Wayside has tried offering a different show each holiday season. It keeps returning to "A Christmas Carol" every few years, though, because the show is such a hit with audiences, Crocker says.

"For 12 years prior to my coming here we did 'A Christmas Carol,'" he says, adding that the play "is a blessing and a curse for theaters. It's big in audiences at Christmastime, it's something people want to see."

Still it's fun to offer the audience something new and different each year, he adds.

"What we're hoping to do is to give people the same experience with a different show each year," Crocker says. "Audiences are happy as long as our message is the same, you know -- hope."

Crocker and music director Steve Przybylski chose to turn "A Christmas Carol" into a musical this year. Wayside offered the show as a musical five years ago, but Przybylski has rewritten all but one of the songs, a favorite, "The Old Joe Song."

The cast aims to reel in the audience in many ways.

The music is a huge device that the cast will use to tell the story and bring the audience into the plot.

"I think the music in this show really drives the story," says Jen Gursky, who shares the roles of Mrs. Cratchit and Mrs. Fezziwig with Thomasin Savaiano. "It's really acting through singing," Gursky says.

The musical version "allows you to become not only a witness to it but a participant," says Crocker.

"Things are totally different for the Cratchits this time around -- musically," Savaiano says.

"This cast are the storytellers," she says. "This is visually a lot more interesting for everyone, I think."

The approach to telling the story is completely different, Crocker says.

Not only will theatergoers get to interact with the characters more than they usually would, with cast members speaking to the audience or even walking out into the audience, but they will also see some characters in a new light.

The message of the play is one of love and hope prevailing despite hard times, and that is what the cast hopes to convey to audiences.

The play deals with sorrow, greed and even the fear of realizing one's soul could be doomed. Scrooge must follow the spirits of Christmas past, present and future along the journey to save his soul or else he will not be redeemed. Likewise, the audience must join Scrooge on his journey or else they will not realize the immense transformation his life takes.

We all have a little bit of Scrooge in us, says William Diggle, who shares the role of Scrooge with James Laster.

"It's easy to go the Scrooge way. It's important to remember that we still need to give, if not fiscally" then in our hearts.

"But yet we're also cognizant that our audience wants to come in and be happy," Crocker says. Despite the profound story line of the play, the cast aims to convey the message in a heartwarming way.

Crocker says he hopes people will come for the family atmosphere and walk away with an understanding of how everyone comes together, even though times are tough right now.

"I think really it could be a comfort to people, too," Gursky says, indicating that audience members might feel a rapport with the characters, who are facing similar troubles.

Larry Dahlke and David Maga will share the role of Bob Cratchit; Forrest Limon and Tyler Plazio will play Tiny Tim, the Cratchits' youngest son.

"A Christmas Carol" will play at the Wayside Theatre in Middletown from Nov. 29 through Dec. 28. Weeknight performances will be Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 7:30 p.m. Weekend performances will be Saturday at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 and 6:30 p.m., except on Dec. 28, when there will be no evening performance. During the week of Christmas, performances will be at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday with matinees at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday. Wayside Theatre will be closed on Dec. 25. Ticket prices are $23 to $28 for adults, with discounts upon request for full-time students, seniors and groups of 20 or more (except for Saturday night performances), and $10 for children ages 5-17. Several performances are already sold out. For tickets or more information call the box office at 869-1776, or visit the Web site, www.waysidetheatre.org.