DM Playhouse Announces MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET Radio Play

The Des Moines Playhouse follows its successful fall season with a family holiday show, Playhouse on the Air Presents: Miracle on 34th Street, Dec. 4-20, 2020. For those not ready to return inside the theatre building, The Playhouse is offering a livestream of opening night, Dec. 4, and on-demand viewing through Dec. 27. Tickets, livestream, and on-demand may be purchased online at dmplayhouse.com or by phone at 515.277.6261. Playhouse on the Air Presents: Miracle on 34th Street is performed without intermission and is 100 minutes in length.

This December, audiences will enter a 1940s radio studio where a radio host, sound effects artists, and a star-studded acting company perform the holiday classic, Miracle on 34th Street. Young Susan Walker has been raised by her well-meaning mother, Doris, not to believe in Santa Claus. Then she meets Kris Kringle, the man hired to play Santa at Macy's department store. When a jealous Macy's employee frames Kris for an assault, attorney Fred Gailey must prove to Doris, Susan, and a court of law that Kris IS the real Santa. Perfect for the whole family!

In this radio retelling, seven actors (Adam Beilgard, Dan Chase, Vivian Coleman, Adam Patrick Fast, Melanie Hall, Preshia Paulding, Maggie Schmitt) embody more than 50 characters. Two foley artists ­(Jerry Eisenhour, Susan Eisenhour) amaze and entertain with sound effects performed live from the stage. Playhouse on the Air Presents: Miracle on 34th Street is adapted from the book by Playhouse executive director David R. Kilpatrick and directed by Playhouse artistic director Katy Merriman.

Throughout November and December, The Playhouse is collecting items for Impact, a community action partnership with a food pantry and anytime shelves in the Drake neighborhood and other Polk County locations. Audiences are encouraged to bring canned goods, peanut butter, dry pasta, cereal, fruit juice, paper products, or personal care items and help combat hunger in Greater Des Moines. The theatre is also collecting funds toward the purchase of meals.

To promote safety, The Playhouse has drawn upon the guidelines suggested by local, state, and federal agencies, experts, and associations to create the theatre's procedures. Full safety guidelines are posted on the theatre's website, dmplayhouse.com. Protocols for audiences, volunteers, and staff include:

• A longstanding policy that asks guests, volunteers, and staff to stay home if feeling unwell. The theatre further requests individuals stay home that have been recently diagnosed with COVID-19 or are awaiting a COVID-19 test result. The Playhouse will refund ticket orders.
• Masks are required at all times for all guests, volunteers, and staff.
• Seating capacity is 35%.
• Seating is assigned, based upon when tickets were purchased and the size of groups, with at least 6 feet distance between parties.
• Playbills are entirely digital.
• A limited array of prepackaged concessions will be offered with credit/debit cards preferred for contactless payments.
• Restrooms and elevator are single use so staff can sanitize after each use.

The Playhouse is Iowa's oldest and largest producing theatre. Located at the 42nd Street exit of I-235, the theatre has presented a full season of shows every year since 1919 and also offers a wide variety of educational experiences including classes for ages 4 to adult, theatre trips to New York, and volunteer opportunities onstage and backstage.

For more information about The Playhouse and Playhouse on the Air Presents: Miracle on 34th Street, visit The Playhouse website at www.dmplayhouse.com or contact The Playhouse at 515.277.6261. Ticket office hours are Noon-3:00 PM, Tuesdays-Fridays