Campus theater stages ‘Star Child’

Staff report

SHARON, PA.

Penn State Shenango Drama Club will present the original comedy “Star Child,” which has appeal for all ages, at 7:30 p.m. Friday and 2:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, in the campus auditorium, 147 Shenango Ave., downtown (across from the post office).

The play is set in a radio station that is about to do a radio play as a special fundraiser for the local community food warehouse, but the actors haven’t shown up yet. The station staff and a local children’s choir do their best to save the day using the troupe’s scripts and creating all the manual sound effects themselves.

“Star Child” was written and is directed by Penn State Shenango faculty member Jeanne Zingale, who teaches theater and communications.

Admission is $8 ($7 for students and seniors, and $5 for children under 4) and includes a snack at intermission and an opportunity to visit with Santa after the show. It’s a Christmas show for the whole family. Although it’s not a musical, there is Christmas music provided by the children in the show and a special rap number that involves many of the cast.

The cast includes Corinn Stonebraker, Katherine Shacklock, Leon Nichols, Dean Baker, Michael J. Hill, Paula Miles and Joyce Howar.

The children, who sing and handle a number of the roles in the radio play, include Madeline Jewell (who plays the Star Child), Julia Miles, Natalie Miles, Tyler Miles, Maryn Pernesky, Ozzie Shaffer and Emmett Walzer. The stage manager is Erin Stoops.

The play that the radio personnel and children perform is loosely adapted from Oscar Wilde’s short story “The Star Child.” For information, call 724-983-2836.