ACTA brings holiday rom-com to its stage with The Holiday Channel Christmas Movie Wonderthon

By Hannah Curran, Editor

TRUSSVILLE — Once you’ve seen one Hallmark Channel movie, you’ve seen them all, but you’ve never seen a Holiday Channel movie like this one. ACTA presents The Holiday Channel Christmas Movie Wonderthon, a comedy by Don Zolidis directed by Curtis Frost.

Joy (Lynn Kalchik), a romance writer with writer’s block and Bridgette (Leslie Price), the sassy, red-headed best friend of ALL the women. (Photo by Hannah Curran)

The performance is brilliantly narrated by two Christmas-loving, hot chocolate-sipping, whipped cream-slurping holiday romance enthusiasts, so don’t be discouraged; they will help you along the way with various cues IF they are paying attention. But, on the other hand, their hands-on approach may have you throwing snowballs at an unconscious man in a wheelchair — for the purpose of true love?

That’s not the only questionable decision the audience will be making throughout the night. Your choices during the performance may leave one of the couples fighting for their life as wild wolves attack them; holiday romance is no joke.

“Two years ago, some ACTA Boardmembers wondered if there was a play that made fun of Hallmark movies,” Curtis Frost stated. “After a short search, we found The Holiday Channel Christmas Movie Wonderthon by Don Zolidis. I laughed out loud reading the script, and I felt the urge to direct my first show.”

With a hilarious assembly of actors consisting of familiar faces alongside newcomers, the cast is comprised of Angela Forehand, Brian Allison, Jana Hoffman, Josh McDaniel, Kathryn Gilmer, Zach Skaggs, Lynn Kalchik, Mike DiLaura, Christa McCrorie, Soren Klinger, Olivia Reeves, Connor Hart, Leslie Price, Stacy Lowery, Teriann Cox, and Carter Sanderson, with Hailey Lowery and Sean Frost in the role of dual-narrators.

“Directing this cast has been both fun and challenging, as I roped in the barely contained chaos that is this cast, who have plenty of stage experience and are surprisingly professional when they want to be,” Frost stated.

Merry (Kathryn Gilmer), a very important businesswoman, trying to destroy the Christmas Tree Farm, and Blake (Zach Skaggs), the owner of said Christmas Tree Farm. (Photo by Hannah Curran)

As the narrators open the performance, they drop you into Hopewood Falls, Vermont, where the Christmas spirit is everywhere. But will this lovely town survive evil city slickers trying to destroy the Inn and Christmas Tree Farm? Only in a holiday movie can two princes from two very different royal families be found in the same town, and what’s a Christmas movie without a meet-cute to depend on one person being in a coma?

This is just the play for those out there who love holiday romance movies. ACTA has slammed six warmhearted and filled-with-holiday-spirit love stories in one performance that will leave you laughing and cheering along for your favorite couple.

“The cast has the talent and the skill,” Frost said. “They just have that natural instinct to take a script that is funny on its own and really ramp it up and make it even funnier.”

The six different couples, who “are all really, really attractive people,” consist of:

• Holly (Angela Forehand), owner of Evergreen Inn, and Brett (Brian Allison), a secret wealthy prince;
• Joy (Lynn Kalchik), a romance writer with writer’s block, and Paul (Mike DiLaura), also a romance writer;
• Merry (Kathryn Gilmer), a very important businesswoman, trying to destroy the Christmas Tree Farm, and Blake (Zach Skaggs), the owner of said Christmas Tree Farm;
• Carol (Jana Hoffman), a psychopath, and Jackson (Josh McDaniel), a veterinarian;
• Noelle (Olivia Reeves), Christmas ornament shop owner, and Kris (Connor Hart), son of town’s former Santa Claus; and
• Sven (Soren Klinger), another secret wealthy prince, and Rita (Christa McCrorie), a secret rich movie star.

A perfect holiday movie isn’t complete without Bridgette (Leslie Price), the sassy, red-headed best friend of ALL the women. Price’s character was there for ALL of her best friends, only occasionally forgetting/confusing some of their romance/criminal problems.

Holly (Angela Forehand), owner of Evergreen Inn, and Brett (Brian Allison), a secret wealthy prince. (Photo by Hannah Curran)

“Even though each cast member comes from a different background, after spending many hours together over two months, facing fun and frustration, including flu and Stacy’s complaining, we have become fast friends even more than we are a cast,” Frost said. “I hope this season brings you peace and joy because deep down, we are all really, really attractive people and don’t want to get eaten by wolves.”

The lines of each love story blur the further into the performance you get, and no matter how hectic and a little unsettling (thank you, Carol), you HAVE to fall in love.

Also, in every holiday romance movie, crime such as assault, kidnapping, arson, and theft is not real if it’s in the name of love.

“This holiday season, I think we need to take stock of the things in life that matter,” Frost stated. “With all the unnecessary contentiousness in our world, it is up to us to remember we can all sit together in a little theatre and laugh.”

There are still some seats available to see the final two performances on Saturday, Dec. 10, at 7 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 11, at 2:30 p.m. Visit acta.booktix.com for more information about this show and upcoming performances.

“Every show has been fantastic,” Frost said. “I have been really pleased and really proud of how things have gone. We had an audience last night that was oddly applauding in the most random spots, and we loved it. It makes the whole show even more electric.”