The Barter Players of Abingdon will present “Frosty, a Musical Adventure” next Thursday, Dec. 5, at the Lancaster Elementary School Theater in Kilmarnock.
The troupe will bring the beloved Christmas song “Frosty the Snowman” to life for Lancaster students from PreK through seventh grade. In two separate shows (9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.), the six-member acting troupe will perform “Frosty, a Musical Adventure,” taking students for a heart-warming ride through snowy New York City, complete with dramatic chases through Central Park and a snowman dancing with a police officer.
The hourlong performances are being brought to the Lancaster Elementary School Theater in Kilmarnock as part of the Arts for Youth Program of the Rappahannock Foundation for the Arts. The play was written by Catherine Bush, the Barter Theatre’s playwright-in-residence, and singer/songwriter Dax Dupuy and was first produced in 2014.
In it, a young orphan named Billy discovers magic in a stolen hat when he places it on a snowman’s head and that snowman comes to life! But can Frosty the snowman help Billy find his real family in time for Christmas? The school’s more than 600 students will join Billy and Frosty as they embark on an adventure filled with thrills and chills and the discovery that the real magic of the season is love.
RFA board president Jamie Tucker said that “Students talk with the actors after the show, and engage with the material in the classroom. It is exciting, it’s live theater at its very best, and it’s unforgettable.”
The Barter Players tours the Eastern seaboard February and March and nationally October through December. From April to December, they perform at their home, the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, the nation’s longest running professional theater. The theater opened in 1933 during the Great Depression, when founder Robert Porterfield offered patrons admission by bartering food and livestock.
This performance of “Frosty, a Musical Adventure” is free and open to any homeschoolers who would like to attend. If interested, call Donna McGrath at 804-438-5555 or email her at admin@rfaonstage.com.