SFA's (New) Original Cast to perform downtown during Nine Flags Festival

Members of SFA School of Theatre's (New) Original Cast will present "Not Home for Christmas" as part of this year's Nine Flags Festival. Cast members include, clockwise from bottom left, Carry Nunn, Nick Pinelli, Anna Drake, Vanessa Hendricks, Randy Wuske, Hannah Johnson, Nnamdi Nwankwo, Sarah Wisterman, Mary Collie (center), Corinne Shady, James Pace and Molly Mitchell.

NACOGDOCHES, TEXAS - "Not Home for Christmas" will be presented by The (New) Original Cast, Stephen F. Austin State University School of Theatre's resident variety/comedy troupe, as a feature of this year's Nine Flags Festival.

Created by the 12-member student ensemble, "Not Home for Christmas" features beloved holiday songs ranging from traditional standards to contemporary hits.

The original play - a comedy featuring nine musical numbers - tells the story of three groups stranded in a mountain ski resort after an avalanche.

"It highlights the ways in which small miracles can happen, even when Christmas doesn't happen according to plan," said Jason Davids Scott, assistant professor of theatre at SFA and the troupe's director.

The cast includes Amarillo sophomore Mary Collie, Friendswood freshman Anna Elizabeth Drake, Emory junior Vanessa Hendricks, Marietta, Ga., junior Hannah Johnson, Fort Worth sophomore Molly Mitchell, Graham freshman Carly Nunn, Pearland sophomore Nnamdi Nwankwo, Chandler freshman James Pace, The Woodlands sophomore Nick Pinelli, Arlington senior Corinne Shady, Houston junior Sarah Wisterman and Orange senior Randy Wuske.

After the avalanche changes everyone's plans for Christmas, the characters, who are only remotely connected through shared acquaintances, begin to pull together, "and you see the trials they all go through that bring them closer together," cast member Pinelli said.

Pinelli, a sophomore theatre major from The Woodlands, finds the creativity allowed each cast member in developing their characters and the story line of the script to be one of the more rewarding aspects of his involvement in The (New) Original Cast. After cast members exchanged ideas about where the storyline would take this particular production, Scott wrote the script.

"I really enjoy the fact that you get to be 100-percent creative," Pinelli said. "We all created the characters and the script from scratch. We had our own ideas, and Dr. Scott put them into words.

"What people will see is a collaboration of the minds of everyone in the cast," he said.

Performance times are 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 30; 2 and 9 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 1; and 3 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 2. All performances will be in the Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House, 329 E. Main St. The play is suitable for audiences 9 years and older.

Tickets are $9 for adults and $6 for students. For tickets or more information, visit www.finearts.sfasu.edu or call (936) 486-6407.