Meet Me In St. Louis Radio Play Comes To SCC

Clang, clang, clang goes the trolley at Southampton Cultural Center’s Center Stage, when the Long Island premiere of Joe Landry’s Meet Me in St. Louis: A Live Radio Play opens on Friday, November 23 and runs through December 9.

“I am thrilled to be continuing this holiday tradition of presenting Joe’s timeless and humbling nostalgic whispers of gentler times,” said director Michael Disher. “Featuring our greatest technology — imagination — Joe effortlessly transports us through sounds and spoken word. And in this case, with a familiar score, to boot.”

Based on The Kensington Stories by Sally Benson, it’s best known as the Vincente Minnelli MGM film classic starring Judy Garland, Margaret O’Brien, and iconic Hugh Martin, and Ralph Blaine; tunes like “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” the eponymous title song, along with “The Boy Next Door” and “The Trolley Song.”

Meet Me in St. Louis captures a year in the life of a family when the World’s Fair came to the budding midwestern city in 1903. Landry’s 2013 radio play is adapted from the book by Hugh Wheeler. Featuring Michael Casper, Gabriel DiFrancesco, Joey Giovingo, Amanda Jones, Alyssa Kelly, John Lovett, Katrina Lovett, Catherine Maloney, Pamela Morris, Michaal Lyn Schepps, Anna Schiavoni, Lon Shomer, and Edna Winston, this Center Stage holiday tradition is a season-perfect family outing.

Landry, the evening’s creator, will be joining the cast and audience for a talk back after the two-hour musical (15-minute intermission included) on opening night. This is the fifth year that Center Stage has presented Landry’s holiday works, which in the past have included It’s A Wonderful Life and A Christmas Carol.

Please note, there is no performance on November 24, the evening of Southampton Village’s annual tree lighting ceremony.

Performance times are Fridays and Saturdays at 7 PM and Sundays at 2:30 PM.

General admission tickets are $25 and children’s tickets (under 21) are $12. Dinner and theater packages are available, as well. For more information and tickets, visit http://www.scc-arts.org or call 631-287-4377.

bridget@indyeastend.com