Middle Georgia holiday theater roundup: What to see to celebrate the season

Community theaters across Middle Georgia are wrapping up shows this weekend and what better time to relax and enjoy entertaining holiday offerings?

I reached out to folks at Macon Little Theatre, Theatre Macon, Warner Robins Little Theatre and the Perry Players to find out what’s on tap and let them speak for themselves about 2024’s highlights and a look at what’s ahead.

Check their websites for showtimes and ticketing.

Macon Little Theatre

JP Haynie, Artistic Director

www.maconlittletheatre.org

This weekend: We open Disney’s “Finding Nemo Jr.” Friday which runs through Sunday. While not specifically “Christmas-y,” we felt the family-friendly nature of Nemo and “Anastasia,” which just closed on our Mainstage, make for wonderful ways to spend time with family while enjoying classic animated films transformed into live stage musicals.

2024 highlights: We’ve had an amazing year at MLT. Our new MLT Family has continued to grow providing more performance opportunities for young actors in Middle Georgia as well as more family-friendly theatre experiences for families to enjoy.  As for MLT After Dark, I was especially proud of Spring Awakening as one of the best-executed productions I’ve ever directly worked on. Audience feedback described it as near perfection and one of the most impactful productions they’d ever experienced.

Looking forward: We’re really looking forward to presenting “Rent” for the first time in our area as part of MLT After Dark. It’s a musical that has changed the face of Broadway forever. We’re excited to have guest director Gail Johnson take on Neil Simon’s “California Suite” and we have “The Crucible,” a classic, scheduled. For our MLT Family shows, we’re looking forward to “Seussical” and “Frozen.” 

Final comment: MLT was nominated for 50 Broadway World Regional awards this year, including for “Favorite Local Theatre,” “Best Theatre for Young Audiences,” and a staggering 15 nominations for “Spring Awakening” across categories like “Best Musical” and several performance and design nominations. Voting is free and open to the public until the end of December.

Theatre Macon 

Richard Frazier-Sostillio, Executive & Artistic Director

www.theatremacon.com

This weekend: Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Musical” runs through Saturday. It’s the area premiere of the famous story of Willy Wonka opening the gates to his mysterious chocolate factory to a lucky few for a life-changing journey through Wonka’s world of pure imagination. It’s a family-friendly show about the importance of being a good person and doing the right things for the right reasons.

2024 highlights: Aside from it being a truly entertaining and at times life-changing year for audiences because of such good work by our actors and crews, we were thrilled to find that our production of Disney’s “Newsies!” reached audiences from 66 counties across the state, 27 different states and two countries.  

Looking forward: How couldn’t we be looking forward to 2025, our 40th anniversary year? It will be a big year because of that plus we’ll be establishing our first flexible-seating performance space. It will be a new space in addition to our Main Stage area and have seating options to allow arrangement for different performance styles such as shows in the round, proscenium or runway.

Warner Robins Little Theatre

Jaimie Miller, First VP and current show director

www.wrlittletheatre.com

This weekend: We only have a few tickets left for Phil Olsen’s hilarious “A Twisted Christmas Carol” which runs through Sunday. It’s a take on the classic Charles Dickens’ tale that nonstop laughs and a beautiful message.

2024 highlights: We at WRLT are very proud of the big moves we’ve made this year. We moved to a fully online reserved ticketing system for the first time ever allowing people to pick their seats. We’ve also made major improvements inside the theatre with a brand-new sound system as well as major improvements to our buildings and land. We’ve sold out entire runs of productions and broken several records for attendance.

Looking forward: We have big plans to continue upgrades inside and out as we move into our 63rd season. We plan to announce a stellar run of shows, continue our children’s theatre program and continue to invest in the community around us.

Final comment: It’s been a record-breaking year at WRLT and we’re thankful for our patrons and supporters who continue to allow us to present incredible live theatre here in Middle Georgia.

Perry Players

Chris Kemp, President

www.perryplayers.org

This weekend: Our current production is “Annie” and even though it isn’t holiday specific, it’s a heartwarming story appropriate for the spirit of the season, bridging the gap between the wealthy and the less fortunate, softening the heart of a seemingly untouchable millionaire businessman, Mr. Warbucks – similar to the miserly Ebeneezer Scrooge in “A Christmas Carol.” Plus, it has a grand finale ending on Christmas, leaving audiences on a high note of good triumphing evil for the holidays as people worlds apart come together, breaking barriers and bonding through overcoming hardships. 

2024 highlights: Patrons enjoyed our dinner-and-a-show during one of our “Driving Miss Daisy” performances catered by Bodega Brew. The auditorium had a first-class dining atmosphere with candle-lit table settings and a classic southern meal tying into the Atlanta-based setting of the story. Our live-music series, Late Night Perry, was well received and featured local musicians, bistro table seating, cocktails and small bites provided by local food and drink businesses. Our Kid’s Summer Camp was a huge success with two, two-week sessions filled to capacity resulting in productions of “Cinderella” and ‘Finding Nemo Jr.” “Matilda the Musical” was our big summer show featuring talented youth from surrounding communities.

Looking forward: Our winter show, “Big Fish,” is a musical blending reality and fantasy and highlighting the power of storytelling, family and human connections. Our spring show, “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” is sure to be a hit featuring music by Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Contact writer Michael W. Pannell at [email protected]. Find him on Instagram at michael_w_pannell.