BWW Previews: ORIGINAL HOLIDAY MUSICAL COMES TO Powerstories Theatre

Just in time for the holidays comes a musical, spanning 1950 to 1966, about a mother of 12.

"Raising Twelve on a Nickel and a Prayer" was written by playwright and Powerstories Theatre founder Fran Taylor Powers in honor of her parents and to show that everyone has a dream.

"Raising Twelve is a musical that took me about 10 years to write," said Fran. "It is the story of my mother Betty meeting my father Harold in the 1950s and revealing to him that she always wanted a family of twelve."

The love story is told in three special Christmases - when they fall in love, when Betty is raising her children with her husband out to sea, and finally, when she is pregnant with her 12th child and is in a life or death situation.

"It's a heartwarming, Hallmark dramatic show with kids, the strength of love, faith and prayer. It's such a feel-good show, something that's needed right now."

Fran partnered with Terez Hartmann to create the beautiful lyrics and music to accompany the story.

The cast includes Lisa and Omar Negron as Betty and Harold Taylor. The Taylor children includes Alyssa Salgado as Donna, Faith House as Mary, Kate Shamblin as Liz, Ellie Papataros as Fran, Benjamin Incaprera as David, Deny Lantigua as John, Alexandra Macinic as Rose and Noelle Roberts as Judy. Ensemble cast includes Bethany Moore, Devan Kelty, Da'More Shorter and Elena Tarpley.

"It's such a joyful experience to do this show. This is our third year at Powerstories. The first two years, it was called "Twelve," but this year, I revamped it to be more descriptive. It really is a show about raising 12 children on a nickel and a prayer. We were a very poor family and prayer was very dominant. Mother was Catholic and Dad was Baptist.

"My message to the audience is that all dreams can come true. You need to work hard for your dreams and all dreams are special. That to me is why I wrote the show. I think the audience will find other messages of the power of love and faith. I want the audience to ask themselves what do they want to do in their lives that they've been putting. I want people to recognize and honor their dreams."

Her ultimate goal is to move the annual holiday show beyond the Tampa stages.

"If you're going to dream, why not dream as big as you can?"

"Raising Twelve on a Nickel and a Prayer" opens November 29 through December 16. Performances are Thursday - Saturday at 8 pm, Sundays at 2 pm. Powerstories Theatre is located at 2105 W. Kennedy Blvd. Tickets are $25, Seniors $20 and Students with ID $15. Buy tickets or learn more at www.powerstories.com.