‘Sounds Like a Holiday’ to feature sing-along, reader’s theater Dec. 7

FAIRFIELD – A combination of live music and original stories, plays and poems will be presented during the annual “Sounds Like a Holiday” event Dec. 7 at the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center.

The event is part sing-along and part reader’s theater, and proceeds from the event will go toward The Lord’s Cupboard food bank. The event starts at 7 p.m., and admission is free with a non-perishable food item.

To start the show, organist Dee Sandquist and pianist Doug Daller will lead their popular annual sing-along of popular carols and hymns, with lyrics projected on the Sondheim’s big screen. The beautiful sounds of the Barhydt Organ will be featured for an hour of stirring music, made all the merrier with the help of a full house of singers.

After a short break at 8 p.m., the Thirsty Word reading series presents an hour of original works by area creative writers—stories, plays, and poems all celebrating a seasonal theme.

Attendees of every age will enjoy an original children’s story written and read by Matt Mullenneaux, Mr. Mole Goes Christmas Shopping, featuring projected illustrations by Caroline Mullenneaux on the big screen.

Frank Capra fans will chuckle along to radio-theater parody It’s A Wonderful Spoof, penned by Meredith Siemsen and Lou Bolster. This retelling of the romantic “Buffalo Gals” scene made famous by Jimmy Stuart and Donna Reed, asks the question: what if their fateful date had been hijacked by a very different sort of movie star? Siemsen and Bolster are joined by Solomon Davis, Sidney Hunt, and Dave Patterson, with live folly by Dave Patterson.

The Legend of Poinsettia is a charming original fairytale read by Lou Bolster, Sidney Hunt, Solomon Davis, and Meredith Siemsen. Written by Lou Bolster, it’s a sweetly imagined origin story of how the classic Christmas flower came to be—and why it blushes red. Both The Legend of Poinsettia and It’s A Wonderful Spoof have been directed by Cody Bauer.

The evening is rounded out by heart-warming true stories by Dave Patterson and Richard Kurtz and seasonal poetry by Corrine Stanley of Iowa City.

The Thirsty Word reading series, supported by the Fairfield Public Library, typically hosts its “third Thursday” events at Fairfield Food Collective but is delighted to be sharing a special December program at the Sondheim for the second year in a row.

“Many thanks to Doug and Dee, who have graciously let us tag along on the program,” said Thirsty Word host Meredith Siemsen, “and to the FACC and its amazing tech team for their ongoing support of this event!

“Last year, folks from all over the community came out to sing, to donate, to be entertained—and everyone had a great time! We hope this year you’ll join us in spreading more holiday cheer.”

Siemsen said the spoof piece she and Bolster wrote happened almost by accident.

“Lou and I are both board members of Fairfield Area Community Theater (FACT), and for many months we’ve been working with a few other area writers to develop an original Iowa-themed variety show to be produced in March at the Sondheim,” Siemsen said. “We all came up with a concept for a comical sketch for the FACT show that features a handful of Iowa-born celebrities—including John Wayne and Donna Reed (but I won’t give away any more surprises just yet). I was excited to write some dialogue between Donna and John mirroring the romantic moonlit scene in It’s A Wonderful Life, and Lou is an absolute natural at doing a John Wayne impression, so he helped me flesh out some of The Duke's grittier dialog. But when push came to shove, that portion of the sketch was far too long and meandered too far away from the main plot, so it had to be cut from the variety-show script. I thought, ‘Well okay, let’s tweak it a bit and put it in the Sounds Like a Holiday reading!’ The scene isn’t that Christmassy, but the movie is an absolute holiday classic, and I hope people will get a kick out of this very silly spin-off.”

Siemsen said all the pieces that will be performed Dec. 7 were submitted to her in October and November by writers from around the area.

“I picked the six selections I thought would provide dynamism, heart, and variety,” she said. “My goal as Thirsty Word host has been to give writers a venue to share their creative work—not to critique or change their work, per se. So I’ve been pretty hands-off with most pieces, like the solo stories and the poems. But as you can imagine, with our two more theatrical pieces, there was some workshopping to be done with the cast and director in November to iron out a few of the kinks so we could tell a better, clearer story.”

The Thirsty Word will turn three years old in January 2023, and that will also mark the group’s second year of partnering with the Fairfield Public Library.

“The typical Thirsty Word reading is held on the third Thursday of each month at Fairfield Food Collective (the old Harper Brush factory)—with about 30-40 people in attendance, something I’m very proud of!” Siemsen said. “A few times each year we adopt a theme—like spooky stories near Halloween, and festive holiday stories in December. Our first reading of 2023 will be on Thursday, January 19, and the fare is usually a mix of short fiction, memoir, essays, poetry, and an occasional short play meant for the stage or screen.”

Siemsen encourages anyone in the area—from hobby writers to published authors, to students of any age—to contact her at sourceoffice@lisco.com if they’d like to share their creative work with a live audience.

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com