Fletcher Smith

For the 22nd year, Open Stage, a professional theatre in downtown Harrisburg, is staging The Diary of Anne Frank, which is based on the actual diary of a young girl who comes of age while she and her family hide from Nazis in a tiny, overcrowded attic.

For 22 years, Open Stage, a professional theatre downtown, has produced an annual production of The Diary of Anne Frank.

The 1843 Charles Dickens novel A Christmas Carol is a familiar tale. Each holiday season A Christmas Carol can be found in one of its over 130 adaptations on the screen or on the stage. As the stress of the holiday season grows, it is not unusual to hear someone utter the words made famous by Ebenezer Scrooge-Bah! Humbug! No matter what version of the classic tale we see, however, the story reminds us that the true spirit of the holiday season is one of compassion, kindness, forgiveness, charity, love, and hope. A Christmas Carol opened for the 19th year at Open Stage of Harrisburg on December 1st.

While the 1992 movie Newsies received mixed reviews and did not perform well in movie theaters, it developed quite a following as a home movie. The inspirational movie, based loosely on the historical newsboys' strike of 1899, starred Christian Bale as Jack Kelly and David Moscow as David Jacobs. In 2011 Disney Theatrical Productions adapted Newsies for the stage, and it opened on Broadway in 2012, earning eight Tony Award nominations. Disney's Newsies: The Broadway Musical, with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Jack Feldman, and book by Harvey Fierstein, has found its way onto stages in many schools and community theatres, building up a new generation of Newsies fans. With its rousing musical numbers and high-energy dancing, Newsies is sure to bring audiences to their feet. Under the direction of Adam Gustafson and Kyle Weary, Theatre Harrisburg's Newsies opened at the Whitaker Center on November 2nd, when I had the opportunity to view this delightful show.

Rounding out its 2015 season and as one of the first theatres in the area to secure the just-released license for the show, Hershey Area Playhouse is proud to present A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS, a story about a boy searching for the real meaning of Christmas. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast onstage below!

Rounding out its 2015 season and as one of the first theatres in the area to secure the just-released license for the show, Hershey Area Playhouse is proud to present A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS, a story about a boy searching for the real meaning of Christmas. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast onstage below!

Bringing to life the story of an orphan boy who asked for more, Hershey Area Playhouse is proud to present its summer musical, Oliver!, about a little boy searching for a loving home in the rough and tumble world of Victorian London.

Bringing to life the story of an orphan boy who asked for more, Hershey Area Playhouse is proud to present its summer musical, Oliver!, about a little boy searching for a loving home in the rough and tumble world of Victorian London.

Let Hershey Area Playhouse entertain you with its summer production of the musical Gypsy on July 17-20 and 24-27, 2014. Performances begin at 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sundays.

A Christmas Carol, the classic Christmas tale of a greedy humbug's last-minute redemption, ushers in the holiday season at Hershey Area Playhouse starting December 5, 2013! This original musical, based on the Charles Dickens novel, is written by Lancaster theatre veteran, Barry Kornhauser. With over 30 years of involvement with the Fulton Theatre and scores of awards, Kornhauser's works have taken the local playwright to the White House, Tony Award-winning stages, the Kennedy Center, and more.

A Christmas Carol, the classic Christmas tale of a greedy humbug's last-minute redemption, ushers in the holiday season at Hershey Area Playhouse starting December 5, 2013! This original musical, based on the Charles Dickens novel, is written by Lancaster theatre veteran, Barry Kornhauser. With over 30 years of involvement with the Fulton Theatre and scores of awards, Kornhauser's works have taken the local playwright to the White House, Tony Award-winning stages, the Kennedy Center, and more.

The Wells Fargo train is coming to Hershey Area Playhouse in July with a 50-member cast in The Music Man. The show runs July 18-21 and 25-28, 2013 with performances at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and at 2 p.m. on Sundays.