After our community cast closes its run of this brand-new adaptation, a company of just twelve young storytellers inherits the inn, the objects, the music, and the lantern light, and tells the whole story their own way in a one-hour edition written especially for them.
WHAT YOUR PERFORMER WILL ACTUALLY DO
Rehearsals feel like the show itself: a small group of people gathered in a warm space, figuring out together how a bedsheet becomes falling snow. Over three weeks, your performer will learn how actors transform in front of an audience, how a company covers for each other and makes each other look good, and how a few familiar carols, sung simply the way families sing around a fire, can stop a room.
Then comes the part that makes this different from most youth theater anywhere. For the final week, the twelve of them have our studio entirely to themselves, rehearsing inside the real, finished world of the community production.
And our space is part of the magic. PaperMap is an intimate storefront studio in Thornton Park, where the audience sits close enough to catch every whispered cue and every grin. When your performer speaks, every person in the space will hear them. When grandparents come to watch, they will see their kid's face, not the back of a crowd.
WHO CAN ENROLL
Performers ages 9 to 17. No experience is necessary, and there is no audition to get in. Every young performer who enrolls has a place in this company, full stop.
Enrollment is limited to 12 performers, and spots are filled in the order enrollment is received.
WHAT ABOUT AUDITIONS?
Auditions happen on our first day together, and here is what that actually means: they are not about earning a spot. Everyone enrolled is already in the show. The first day is how our directors get to know each performer and find the roles where they will shine, so the company is built from exactly who is in the space.
In this adaptation, nearly everyone plays several roles. The same performer might be a grandmother telling the story one moment and the Ghost of Christmas Present the next. A few folks will carry one large role through the night, like Scrooge or Marley. Most will transform three or four times, and the audience gets to watch every transformation happen. Age, gender, and type will not limit casting here. That is part of the fun.
REHEARSALS
Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, 4:00 to 6:00 PM, at our studio in Thornton Park. Tech week extends to four days with longer hours.
Week One: Monday, Nov. 30 through Wednesday, Dec. 2, 4:00 to 6:00 PM (first-day auditions Nov. 30)
Week Two: Monday, Dec. 7 through Wednesday, Dec. 9, 4:00 to 6:00 PM
Tech Week: Monday, Dec. 14 through Thursday, Dec. 17, 4:00 to 7:00 PM
Three focused weeks, wrapped up the weekend before Christmas. Your performer gets a full production experience and your family still gets its holiday.
PERFORMANCES
Friday, December 18 at 7:00 PM
Saturday, December 19 at 2:00 PM
Saturday, December 19 at 7:00 PM
Sunday, December 20 at 2:00 PM
Tickets are $15 at papermaptheater.com. Audiences join the evening as fellow guests of the inn, welcomed into the common room to watch the story get made. Nobody in the audience is ever pulled into the show; being in the room is the whole invitation. Fair warning for the grandparents: the final moments, by lantern light and colored Christmas bulbs, tend to require a tissue.
ENROLLMENT
Enrollment is $350 per performer and covers the full three-week production process: all rehearsals, script, and four performances. PaperMap is an approved Step Up for Students provider; families using Step Up or PEP scholarship funds can use code “INVOICE” at enrollment to secure your space today.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Does my performer need experience?
Not at all. The whole premise of the show is ordinary people deciding to tell a story together, so first-timers are not just welcome, they are sort of the point. Seasoned young performers will find plenty to sink their teeth into as well, with rich roles and quick-change ensemble work.
My kid is shy. Is this a good fit?
Often the best one. A company of twelve in a cozy space, with no audition to get in and directors who have time to actually know each performer, is about the gentlest way there is to step on stage. Shy kids tend to do beautifully here, and some of the doubled ensemble roles are perfect first parts.
What should performers bring to the first day?
Comfortable clothes they can move in, a water bottle, and nothing else. Scripts are provided. There is nothing to prepare or memorize ahead of time.
What if we have a conflict during rehearsals?
With a three-week process, attendance matters more than usual. Let us know about any conflicts on the enrollment form and we will tell you honestly whether the schedule can work for your family before you commit.
Will performers use the real set and costumes?
Yes. That is the heart of how PaperMap works. The youth company performs in the full world of our community production: the inn, the quilts and lamps and phonograph, the music, all of it. The same Christmas Carol, passed from one cast to the next like a family recipe.
Is there singing?
Some, and it is the friendly kind. A handful of familiar carols sung simply, sometimes with acoustic accompaniment. No solo audition or vocal experience needed. If your family has ever sung Silent Night together in a living room, your performer already knows how this works.
We adventure through theater, together. ✧
