A Civil War Christmas Opens at TheatreWorks Dec. 5

By Adam Hetrick
05 Dec 2009

A Civil War Christmas' Diana Torres Koss, Cyril Jamal Cooper and Tiana Travis
A Civil War Christmas' Diana Torres Koss, Cyril Jamal Cooper and Tiana Travis
Photo by David Allen

Snow falls in Palo Alto as Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Paula Vogel's A Civil War Christmas officially opens at TheatreWorks Dec. 5.

Robert Kelly directs Vogel's historically anchored production that begins as Washington, D.C. settles into the holiday season during Abraham Lincoln's presidency. Performances began Dec. 2 and will continue through Dec. 27 in the Lucie Stern Theatre.

The cast features Robert Parsons as Abraham Lincoln, Diana Torres Koss as Mary Todd Lincoln, Michael A. Shepperd as Decatur Bronson, C. Kelley Wright as Elizabeth Keckley, Gary Martinez as General Ulysses S. Grant and Kit Wilder as John Wilkes Booth.

Completing the company are Jayne Deely, Ian Leonard, Cyril Jamal Cooper, Tracy Camp, Elizabeth Palmer, Daveed Daniele Diggs, Jonathan Shue, Tiana Travis and Myha'la Herrold.

Press notes read: "Set on a snowy Christmas Eve in Washington, 1864, A Civil War Christmas imagines celebrated figures from Abe Lincoln to Walt Whitman rubbing elbows with colorful characters from every stratum of society. This heartwarming holiday feast finds Mary Todd Lincoln rushing to complete her Christmas shopping, Clara Barton tending wounded soldiers in a local hospital, a run-away slave girl separated from her mother in the bitter cold, and two generals on opposite sides of the Potomac, caught in limbo between victory and defeat."

The production includes holiday classics "O Christmas Tree" and "Silent Night," as well as spirituals and folk songs of the era. A Civil War Christmas received its world premiere at the Long Wharf Theatre in 2008.

For tickets phone (650) 463-1960 or visit TheatreWorks. The Lucie Stern Theatre is located at 1305 Middlefield Road in Palo Alto, CA.