Panic! Holiday Radio Hour Presents THE PLOT TO OVERTHROW CHRISTMAS, Beginning Tonight

Panic! Productions welcomes in the season with special fund-raising performances of The Panic! Holiday Radio Hourfeaturing Norman Corwin's classic radio play, The Plot to Overthrow Christmas, and a Cavalcade of great holiday hits. Performances are tonight, December 6 and tomorrow, December 7, 19 and 20 at the Hillcrest Center for the Arts in Thousand Oaks.

The Radio Hour will be modeled on the broadcasts of the 1940s and 50s, with actors reading from scripts, live sound e1ffects, and recreations of original commercials and other period material. The Plot to Overthrow Christmas is a comic gem by Corwin, often called the "Poet Laureate of American Radio." Told in rhyme, the story has the world's villains convene in hell to figure out the best plan to do away with Good Will on Earth. Target: Santa Claus. Directed by Robert Weibezahl with music direction by Diann Alexander, Corwin's play will be bracketed by performances of some of the most beloved Christmas songs of the era, done in period style.

Each performance will feature a special guest from Broadway and beyond. Scheduled are professional sessions singer Christopher Gambol (12/6), Broadway veteran Joshua Finkel (Kiss of the Spider Woman, Les Miserables) (12/7), Cabrillo Music Theatre Artistic Director Lewis Wilkenfeld (12/19), and Broadway star Karen Culliver (Phantom of the Opera, Meet Me in St. Louis) (12/20).

The Panic! Holiday Radio Hour company features Heidi Appe, Sam Aranda, Tamarah Ashton, Paul Babb, Silas Benjamin, Kenneth Day, Gabi Ditto, Terry Fishman, Paul Panico, Zoe Reed, Theresa Secor, Karen Sonnenschein, Anthea Stobie, Lauren Tougas, Robert Weibezahl, Dean Wein, and Paul Wong.

The benefit performances, December 6, 19 and 20 at 7:30 pm and December 7 at 2 pm, will raise funds for future artistic and educational programs by Panic! Productions, a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit. Tickets are $15, $12.50 senior/student, and $10 children under 12 and are available at www.HillcrestArts.com, at the Hillcrest Center box office, or by calling 805/381-1246. The Hillcrest Center for the Arts is at 403 W. Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks.