History Theatre celebrates the holiday season with the regional premiere of an epic Christmas musical written by Pulitzer Prize-winner Paula Vogel. The show's director, Austene Van, describes A Civil War Christmas as a show that celebrates the joy of finding what has been lost, and the power of the holiday season to bring out the best, most generous parts of people and communities.
In her words it is "life set to music" where the songs are the natural expressions of emotions, and the choreography on the stage is fluid and constant. Local music icon J.D. Steele - whose work was most recently seen in the Guthrie's production of Burial at Thebes - uses a 14-member cast of singers and musicians to create a rich score of folk songs, spirituals, Civil War songs, and Christmas carols to reveal a world that is simultaneously torn apart by war and held together by the hope for redemption.A Civil War Christmas
Soldiers on both sides of the battle (Joel Raney and Santino Craven) pray for wholeness and redemption in A Civil War Christmas.
Christmas brings an uneasy peace for a Union soldier (Santino Craven) and a Confederate soldier (Joel Raney) in A Civil War Christmas.
A mother (Lynnea Monique Doublette) and daughter (Kiara Smythe) are reunited in A Civil War Christmas.
President Lincoln (Fred Wagner) offers comfort to a Union soldier (Santino Craven) in A Civil War Christmas.
From left to right: Joetta Wright, Alicia Dansby, Jen Rand, and Jackson Hurst hold one last beautiful note in A Civil War Christmas.
Mary Todd Lincoln (Jan Lee) and President Abraham Lincoln (Fred Wagner) in A Civil War Christmas.
Union soldier (Santino Craven) offers his hand in peace to a young Confederate rebel (Jen Rand) in A Civil War Christmas.
A nurse (Alicia Dansby) wraps the wound of a soldier (Jackson Hurst) in A Civil War Christmas.
John Wilkes Booth (David Maga, right) conspires with two fellows at his boarding house (Joel Raney and Nic Delcambre) in A Civil War Christmas.
Mary Surratt (Gail Ottmar) and Mary Todd Lincoln comfort one another in A Civil War Christmas.
Mrs. Keckley (Joetta Wright, front) remembering her son George (Nic Delcambre) in A Civil War Christmas.
Mary Todd Lincoln (Jan Lee) and her seamstress Mrs. Keckley (Joetta Wright) in A Civil War Christmas.
The President's aid Mr. Walker (Darius Dotch) presents President Lincoln (Fred Wagner) with good news in A Civil War Christmas.
From left to right: David Maga, Jackson Hurst, Santino Craven, Joetta Wright, Fred Wagner, Darius Dotch, Alicia Dansby sing in A Civil War Christmas.
Hannah (Lynnea Monique Doublette) and Jessa (Kiara Smythe) in A Civil War Christmas.
President Lincoln (Fred Wagner, background) and GenerAl Lee (Joel Raney, front) in A Civil War Christmas.
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