Ho! Ho! Snow!!!
2014 · Lincoln Land Community College
Ho! Ho! Snow!!! was a Christmas show written by Ken Bradbury and staged in the fall of 2014 by his Lincoln Land Community College theatre class as the LLCC Traveling Theatre Troupe. It was created for the Downtown Jacksonville organization, tied to Santa's arrival in town, and performed at a downtown location during the holiday season.
The story follows Mackenzie ("Kenzie") and her friends, who have gathered for a Christmas Eve pajama party — in part to collect PJ's to send to a homeless shelter — when a severe snowstorm warning strands them all overnight. Worried that Santa Claus won't stop unless they're home in their own beds, the kids face a choice between disappointment and making the most of it. Mackenzie rallies them with the show's anthem, turning the night into a "PJ party for Christmas," and the show leans toward the warm idea Ken sketched in his notes: that the greatest gift is simply being together with family.
Songs
- "PJ Party for Christmas" — the show's central song, led by Mackenzie and joined by the full cast ("Who cares if the snow may come? We're gonna party and have some fun! Let's start and have a PJ party for Christmas!").
- A planned comic number for Ally — a song about food ("Gimme food! Gimme Food! Lots more Food!") — appears in Ken's idea notes.
Cast
- Ally Bunfill
- Elly Crawford
- Mackenzie Musch
- Emily Burns
- Abby Link
- Elisabeth Werries
- Brittany Davis
- Alex Stanberry
- Clara Lee
- Jamie Schnepper (Dad)
- Kyler Miller
- Hannah Werries
- Brenan Pool
- Rachel Skillet
Production Notes
This was a first-semester project of the 2014–15 LLCC theatre class. As Ken described the semester, the class did two shows in the fall: a traveling children's theatre that toured Jacksonville-area elementary schools, and this Christmas show for the Downtown Jacksonville organization, performed downtown in conjunction with Santa coming to town.
The production played its weekend in December 2014 to sold-out houses. In his journal on December 15, 2014, Ken wrote: "Yesterday we put Ho! Ho! Snow! to bed after playing the weekend with sold out houses. Sweetness." He noted that he and Bev had tucked the sound system away for another year, and praised Bev's warm attachment to each year's cast.