ENTERTAINMENT NEWS: Christmas Concert at Elks Lodge tonight; PA holiday play on tap tonight

SEQUIM — The Elks Lodge of Sequim, 143 Port Williams Road, will host a performance by Sequim Community Orchestra at 7 tonight.

Music Director Phil Morgan-Ellis leads the ensemble.

The orchestra will perform a concert of classic Christmas music.

Also performing will be students of the Strings Kids program, an after-school strings education program sponsored by Sequim Community Orchestra.

There is no charge to attend this free concert, although donations in support of the Strings Kids program will be accepted.

There will also be a bake sale, organized by the Strings Kids and their parents, as part of the event.

The Strings Kids program is now in the fourth year of operation, with a first-, second- and combined third/fourth-year class, according to a news release.

The Sequim School District provides classroom space, but all instruction and materials are provided by Sequim Community Orchestra.

For more information, call 360-460-7368 or email president@sequimcommunityorchestra.org.

Christmas pageant

PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles Community Playhouse, 1235 E. Lauridsen Blvd., will host “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” a play presented by the Port Angeles Community Players Children’s Theater, at 7 tonight.

Encore presentations will be at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday with the final performance at 2 p.m. Sunday.

The play was written by Barbara Robinson and directed by Barbara Frederick, with music direction by Brooke Hendry.

The play is based on the children’s book of the same name about church Sunday school kids recreating the first Christmas, according to a news release.

The pageant is the same every year, until the director breaks a leg and the Herdman family decides to take part in it after finding out that they get all the snacks they want.

But the church birthday fund is missing, there’s smoke coming from the ladies restroom, the cake burns up and a ham is left behind, forming an unconventional pageant that will have the town talking for years.

The play is suitable for kids aged 3 and older and runs approximately 60 minutes with no intermission.

The cast, ranging in age from 4 to 16, have been rehearsing two days a week for six weeks.

“These kids are so creative and inventive,” Frederick said.

“They are so full of energy and enthusiastic to perform this play in front of an audience. There is just something so magical and fun working with these kids. They make the story come alive.”

The cast includes McKaylee Anderson, Caleb, Chloe and Mairyn Corey, Allison Fricker, Harrison and Scarlett Fulton, Zelby Gloria, Ekaterina Hanes, Brock Hope, Holden Hughes, Madeline Irwin, Molly Kussin, Avonlea Lawrence, Bryan and Caleb Lisitsin, Damon Little, Jenna and Sammy Mason, Easton and Molly Merritt, John, Kimberlyn and Riley Mitchell, Emily McAliley, Max Ray, Carley Rife, Elise and William Sirguy, Kate Snook and Finn Waknitz.

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