Premiere Production
debuted Nov./Dec. 2023 to enthusiastic audiences!
Presented at The Garden Theater, Winter Garden, FL
Produced by
Jessica Huckabey Theatricals/
Victory Productions
Studio cast album to be released in time for
Christmas 2024!
When a family gathers for Christmas,
music heals all wounds…
Listen up, y’all!
Enjoy basking in the sound of Appalachia at Christmas.
Recordings courtesy of Kevin Duda Productions.
“A 90-minute Christmas musical as warm as a farmhouse stove in December.”
— VP Boyle, writer-director
The Ballards, Ulysses (called “Lessy Boy” ) and Curleen, welcome family and friends into their Kentucky mountain home to celebrate Christmas Day, 1937. In the midst of the Great Depression, they have no gifts to exchange. Instead, they celebrate by sharing a love of Appalachian music, fellowship, and good food.
Among the holiday guests are Wilmer Flutie, the local moonshiner, Lessy Boy's's widowed sister Mamie and her emotionally challenged but musically gifted adult son Arlie, the Ballard’s eldest daughter Della, her coal miner husband Jarrett, and their two children, and the new, young, unmarried pastor on whom the family's spinster daughter Dovey has pinned her matrimonial hopes.
Unexpectedly, the Ballard’s son Dewey Joe arrives with his young, very-soon-to-be-a-mother wife Joy Lynn. He'd left the family fold two years prior without warning in order to escape a certain but unsavory fate as a coal miner. He's returned to make amends with his parents, but mama Curleen, deeply wounded by his disappearance, is less than welcoming. When it seems Curleen may never find peaceful reconciliation with her son, a Christmas miracle opens up a new possibility of forgiveness.
“Christmas times a-comin’ and I know I’m goin’ home!”
The Ballards, Lessy Boy and Curleen, welcome family and friends into their Appalachian mountain home to celebrate Christmas Day. In the midst of the Great Depression, they have no gifts to exchange, but instead, they share their love of Appalachian hymns and carols. Unexpectedly, the Ballard’s son who'd left the fold to escape a certain fate in the coal mines returns to make amends with his parents. With him is his very-soon-to-be-a-mother wife. Though Curleen seems incapable of negotiating a peaceful reconciliation with her son, a Christmas miracle opens up a new possibility of forgiveness.
“Snowman on the mountaintop, who put you up there?”
Through its generous helping of songs and folksy scenes highlighting both
the humor and the heartache of a life in Depression-Era Appalachia,
Moonshine & Mistletoe is a wholesome holiday theatrical event for every family.
Toe Tappin’ Tunes a-plenty!
Songs in the show, all accompanied by actor-musicians, include…
Christmas Time’s Come ‘Round Again
Children, Go Where I send Thee
Good Ol’ Mountain Dew
Snowman on the Mountaintop
My Love Brought Me Summer on a Grey Winter’s Day
Christ Child’s Lullabye
The Cherry Tree Carol
I Wish I Was a Single Girl Again
Brightest and Best
I Wonder as I Wander
“Christ Child’s Lullabye”
Jared Sampson, Stepanie Sanford, and Julie Foldesi.
“I Wonder as I Wander”
Rob McCaffrey and David Lutken.
Writer DJ Salisbury and arranger Larry Moore both have roots in eastern Kentucky. Hearing Larry’s beautiful work (“Appalachian Carols Suite”) written for a prominent NYC chorus’ holiday concert had DJ ponder the possibility of a new Christmas-themed theatre piece that would —unlike the beloved but ubiquitous dramatization of A Christmas Carol —focus on genuine American holiday traditions and cultural heritage.
The two Kentuckians crafted a 90-minute theatrical piece set in the hills of the Appalachian mountains circa 1937. The show has had 3 staged readings in NYC and a developmental production (produced by Showlink NYC and Friends of the Holler LLC) in South Carolina.
Now, with two original songs added to the hauntingly beautiful collection of music authentic to early 20th century Appalachia, Moonshine & Mistletoe is ready for full production.
“Brethren We Have Met to Worship”
Scott Moss, Deb Lyons, and David Lutken
Feel good folk music.
A story of family forgiveness.
Moonshine and Mistletoe is a 90-minute musical
valentine to a by-gone era,
rich with colorful characters, traditional family values, and the authentic sounds of
Appalachian mountain people in the
early 20th century.
A cast of 11 actor-musicians and 2 children bring enraptured audiences
the bluegrass and folk tunes, spiritual hymns and carols of a simpler time…
sprinkled with the raucous good humor of mountain life.
Grateful.
The actor-musicians in the photos and in the video (as well as the unseen music director Brent Frederick and associate director Chad Larabee and producer Kevin Duda) contributed their time and talent to help Moonshine and Mistletoe become a beautiful piece of theatre.
Heartfelt thanks to Julie Foldesi, Michael Hicks, Megan Loomis, David Lutken, Deb Lyons, Rob McCaffrey, Steve McIntyre, Scott Moss, Barbara Newman, Jared Sampson, Stephanie Sanford, Jarod Valvo, and Rachel Valvo (along with many other talented folks who participated in readings and recordings.)