Theatrical Outfit to Feature Nick Arapoglou, Tom Key, and More in Christmas Shows

Theatrical Outfit continues its "Season of Compassion" with the uplifting musical The Gifts of the Magi and storytelling event A Christmas Memory, which explores the compassion needed and realized when people really love each other and can triumphantly navigate adversity.

THE GIFTS OF THE MAGI, presented Dec. 4-21, is written by Mark St. Germain with music by Randy Courts, direction by Heidi Cline McKerley, musical direction by S. Renee Clark, and Choreography by Jeff McKerley. Featuring Nick Arapoglou*, S. Renee Clark, Caroline Freedlund, Kayce Grogan-Wallace, Jeff McKerley*, Bernardine Mitchell*, Glenn Rainey*

A CHRISTMAS MEMORY, presented Dec. 22-23, is adapted by Tom Key from a short story by Truman Capote. Featuring Tom Key*

* member of Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States

THE GIFTS OF THE MAGI story: It is Christmas, the season of giving, but for young penniless lovers Jim and Della, the prospects are bleak. Each valiantly struggles to find the perfect gift for the other.

Meanwhile, forgotten man Soapy comically attempts to get thrown in jail for a free meal and place to sleep.

Characters "City Him" and "City Her" join in the hustle and bustle of cold 19th Century New York. News Vendor Willy warmly guides the way with wise council and soaring melodies. A charming and transcendent musical that asks, "Is the wisdom in the gift or in the giving?"

A CHRISTMAS MEMORY story: Theatrical Outfit will feature Artistic Director, Tom Key, on stage for his one-man adaptation of Truman Capote's cherished story, "A Christmas Memory." An Alabama native himself, Key narrates the semi-autobiographical tale of seven-year-old Alabama boy, Buddy, and his unique friendship with his elderly eccentric cousin, like "a lost pair of kites hurrying towards heaven."

Following The Gifts of the Magi (December 4-21) and for two days only is A Christmas Memory (December 22 & 23), adapted and performed by Tom Key; then the awe-inspiring regional premiere of Lauren Gunderson's Silent Sky (February 12-March 1), which will give you a glimpse into the astonishing personal and professional discoveries of real-life female American astronomer Henrietta Leavitt (1868-1921); and Storefront Church (April 9-26), the final chapter of Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright John Patrick Shanley's "Doubt" trilogy, which begs the question: What is the relationship between spiritual experience and social action? The further exploration of class, education, faith, the stars and our place in the world will lead us to a place of better understanding compassion in our own lives, in our own community and in the world. The season closes with the founder of Dad's Garage, Sean Daniels' hilarious autobiography The White Chip (June 11-28).

ABOUT THEATRICAL OUTFIT: Atlanta's second-oldest professional theater company was founded in 1976 and has been led by Executive Artistic Director Tom Key since fall 1995. Key led the company through the creation of its award-winning downtown home, the Balzer Theater at Herren's, the first U.S. theater to achieve LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The theater is on the historical site of Herren's, the first Atlanta restaurant to voluntarily desegregate (in 1963). Theatrical Outfit tells consistently high-quality, soul-stirring stories, often from great classics and contemporary literature that feature many of the best writers of the American South: Carlyle Brown, Truman Capote, Evan Davis, Horton Foote, Harper Lee, Cormac McCarthy, Flannery O'Connor, Walker Percy, Sherry Shepard-Massat, Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder, Hank Williams and Tennessee Williams.

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