BANGOR, Maine — Even though the stage at the Penobscot Theatre Company in Bangor is dark due to COVID-19, the shows must go on! Two new holiday shows, one for adults and one to enjoy with all the family, will both kick off next week.
"What we are doing are incredible, ambitious, brand new projects. One opens next Thursday and it is from ImprovAcadia who are the team who brought last year's smash hit, laugh out loud: "A Kick In Your Dickens," Bari Newport, artistic production director at the Penobscot Theatre Company, said.
Penobscot Theatre Company wants you to find the best seat in your house to enjoy these two new shows.
"Deck the Balls" is an interactive improvised show that engages the audience.
Three comedians will be live each night via Zoom with adult-only holiday humor!
"It's interactive so it's an improv show like any other, meaning it's different every night, only this one is broadcast from a dining room in Ellsworth," Newport said.
The second option is for the entire family. "A Christmas Carol" will be told using marionettes, puppets, music, and fun costumes. It's a different approach to the classic Dickens tale.
"That is a co-production with a company out of Atlanta called the Object Group, who specializes in puppetry and film making, and that is a feature film," Newport said. "It uses Ken Stack, who is a longtime beloved actor in the community who plays Scrooge on our Penobscot Theatre Company stage for 13 seasons. He voices all the characters, and it's his adaptation of the Dickens classic."
"Deck the Balls" runs from December 10 - 27. Seating is limited to 40 households, and advance booking strongly recommended. All tickets for this show are per household, and they are $60.
"A Christmas Carol" streams on-demand from Dec. 12 – 27. All tickets are also priced per household, and they cost $40 per house.
To learn more about these holiday shows you can call (207) 942-3333 or click here.
Jen Shepard is the Interim Managing Director at the theatre. She tells us that even though the shows are not in person, they are offering the same experience.
"That same shared experience, that communal experience that you have when you go to the theatre. We are really inviting people to invite their friends and their family to view the shows."
Shepard adds the "Christmas Carol" is recorded. It's a film version, so families can choose the best time and day to sit and watch the show online.
"With 'Deck the Balls,' they actually will be able to see each other, because the platform that we are using is Zoom, even though it doesn't look like a Zoom, nor it feels like you are at work," Shepard said.