The Vic gets in the ‘Spirit’

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

Christmas is a time of tradition and family, and the Victorian Players and Centaur Stage Productions will take both to a new level with “In the Spirit of Christmas.”

The holiday show comprises three one-act plays that are very different from one another but which produce a warm and happy feeling, said director Sam Luptak Jr.

The three short plays were written by Dwayne Yancey. “In the Spirit of Christmas” is now in its ninth season. While it is aimed at families and features many local actors, both child and adult, this year’s production is a special occasion for one local family.

Keith and Amber Johnson and all three of their children will appear on stage together for the first time. Amber and the kids, Cameron, 12, Kiley, 9, and Colton, 6, are veterans of the Victorians Stage, but Keith will be making his stage debut.

“Amber and the kids kind of dragged me into it,” said Keith. “I loved watching them over the years and even helping backstage a bit, but this year there was a small role open, and Amber and the kids talked me into taking it. I figured the rest of the family was doing it, so I may as well give it a try.”

Amber agrees. “This has been a really special time of family bonding and togetherness,” she said.

Amber and Keith are both military veterans who met in Afghanistan in 2003.

Keith retired in October after 20 years of service and tours to several of the world’s hot spots, including, Afghanistan, Iraq and Bosnia. He has been injured more than once and has been in the vicinity of roadside bomb explosions.

“Learning lines and being on stage is only a little less stressful,” he said with a laugh.

Keith plays a police officer who comes in contact with Jose and Maria in “A New Twist on an Old Story,” one of the three one-acts.

Amber appears in both of the other two shows, “Svetlana’s First Christmas Away from Home” and “A Zombie Christmas” (which does not actually involve zombies). The kids appear in both “Svetlana” and “Jose and Maria.”