Celebrate the Holidays at The Gaslight With TOTALLY AWESOME Dickens Update

Dickson's Gaslight Dinner Theatre closes out its 16th Anniversary Season - and celebrates the holiday season - with Kim Beagle Graham's A Totally Awesome Christmas Carol, opening Friday.

A Totally Awesome Christmas Carol is described as "1980s version of the Dickens classic [that] will keep you laughing the whole Holiday Season!"

In the comedy, slumlord Zebadiah Schmooze (played by Rob Wilds) is warned by the ghost of his late business partner Jacob Marley that he will be visited by "tree spirits" when he tries to evict tenant Linda from 3C. It's Christmas Eve and Schmooze won't fix Linda's heat or even let his nephew Tom Humble (Dion Stover) take a long lunch to get his son Puny Paul (Bryce Conner) his dream gift...a Rubik's Cube. Instead, Schmooze drops a boat load of paperwork for Tom to complete before days' end that will hopefully keep 'Schmoozes' Rental Properties' out of court. Tom ends up going home empty handed only to find his wife Peggy (Becky Walhstrom) all too happy to try to cheer him up! Meanwhile, Elvis, Charo (Jama Bowen) and a cell phone from the future, try to get Schmooze to change his ways and soften his heart. Each "ghostly character" takes a stab at helping Schmooze see that he "needs some lovin'" to keep him from going under and hopefully enjoy his remaining days on earth.

The cast features the talents of Gaslight favorite Jama Bowen (Sister Act; Ripe Conditions; The Spitfire Grill; Great American Trailer Park; Nunset Boulevard) as Linda and Charo; along with Nashville favorites Rob Wilds (Guys and Dolls; Best Little Whorehouse in Texas; A Christmas Carol; The Foreigner; Noises Off; Dearly Departed ) as Zebadiah Schmooze; Becky Walhstrom (King Lear; Skinless; Voices of Nashville; Scarecrows Will Never See the Sunset; Looking For Normal; Fahrenheit 451) as Peggy and Ghost of the Future; Bryce Conner ( Legally Blond; Xanadu; A Tuna Christmas; The Rainmaker; A Christmas Carol) as Puny Paul and Elvis; and Chicago native Dion Stover (The Rocky Horror Picture Show; I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change; Oklahoma!; Anything Goes; 1940's Radio Hour Christmas Carol; Damn Yankees; Little Shop of Horrors) as Tom and Marley.

The production is designed and directed by Greg Frey, lighting design by Katy Gant and Technical/set design by Greg Frey.

"Enjoy a delicious Holiday meal and laugh along as you reminisce what the 1980s were all about," Frey says. The all new delicious Holiday buffet begins one hour before show time. Price includes buffet, desserts, beverage and show.

Matinee and evening performances November 18-December 17. Tickets from $35-$45. Call (615) 740-5600 or go to www.gaslightdinnertheatre.org for complete schedule and ticket information. Reservations are required.

About the playwright: Playwright/Author Kim Graham is the former Director of Theatre Education and Community Outreach for The Renaissance Center, where she worked as a professional actress, director and playwright. In 2004, she was appointed Director of Arts Education for the Tennessee Arts Commission where she created and designed two statewide arts integration initiatives, Value Plus Schools and Arts360, both of which garnered national recognition as effective teacher training models. Graham is the former Chair of the National Endowment for the Arts' Arts Education Advisory Group and has taught workshops and served as a panelist for The Kennedy Center, the U.S. Department of Education, and the Arts Education Partnership. In 2011, she joined the staff of The Phoenix Symphony as Director of Education and Community Engagement where she created the B-Sharp Music Wellness program, a health care initiative providing outreach to homeless shelters and Banner Health Center's Alzheimer's Institute. In 2013, she relocated to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where she currently serves as Deputy Director of A+ Schools Louisiana, a program of the George Rodrigue Foundation of the Arts.

About the venue: The Gaslight Dinner Theatre is a professional non-profit venue whose mission is to enrich, entertain and educate our community through exceptional theatrical productions. Gaslight Dinner Theatre is celebrating its 16th Anniversary Season. Currently located in the lower level of Freed-Hardeman University's Renaissance Center in Dickson. Using theatre as a platform for social change, the Gaslight Dinner Theatre specializes in new plays, comedies and musicals by seasoned and upcoming playwrights. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Greg Frey, and a four-member Advisory Panel, the Gaslight Dinner Theatre's mission is to enrich, entertain and educate our community through exceptional theatre.

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