Christmas musical comedy draws inspiration from northern Minnesota

Posted: 11/24/04

Christmas musical comedy draws inspiration from northern Minnesota

Patti J. Hynes-McCarthy and her husband, Tom McCarthy, share a love for theater.

It is through their passion and dedication for theater that they have created original scripts for their theater company called Seasons Players for the past 17 years.

Each year they stage their productions at The Seasons Dinner Theater, located at The Seasons Restaurant at Bunker Hills Golf Course in Coon Rapids.

There are two performances each year, the Christmas show and a mystery show.

The Christmas show, is "a family, friendly show," said the McCarthys.

This year, like past years, the McCarthys have worked really hard to create another Christmas musical-comedy original script for the dinner theater.

"That is the fun of the experience is that you can't see this show anywhere else," Patti said.

This year's show is titled, "Christmas By Da Lake." Patti wrote the script and Tom usually directs the play. However, this year he is acting in the play in the lead role.

Each year, Patti draws inspiration from a variety of experiences and people's stories.

"I just know that something wonderful is in store for me as I write it, and for the audiences who will be seeing it," said Hynes-McCarthy.

"People tell us all the time that the show has become a special part of their Christmas traditions."

This year's story was inspired by Tom's brother's cabin that is by a lake.

"There was a cabin that had a sign that said 'By Da Lake.' And we thought that would make a great title," Tom said.

"Christmas By Da Lake," has a northern Minnesota flair and the action takes place on a lake, called Byda Lake, located between two larger lakes, Moose Head Lake and Angel Lake.

Local author Joe Chapel isolates himself in his cabin to work on his next book.

It's Christmas time, and a lot of action is about to take place on the lake.

Residents discover an opening in the ice that has not frozen. Some of the locals say it looks like a moose head like the lake and others think it's an angel, like to the other lake.

Soon Joe's solitude is suddenly shattered by much unwanted attention.

"Our Christmas shows are always a great combination of an inspiring story line, comedic characters and wonderful Christmas music," said Tom.

This year's cast comprises 16 people. There are several children's parts that the McCarthys have triple cast because there are 33 performances.

"We have some very talented kids for the show who have been awesome to work with," Tom said. "And, we are so please to have some of our alumni back and a few new actors as well."

This year's cast includes Erik Sterling Quam of Andover, Christopher McKenzie of Minneapolis, Gregory Eiden of Coon Rapids, Dorian Chalmers of Osseo, Suz Adamson of Ham Lake, and Mary Elizabeth Swanson of Coon Rapids, Traci Derpinghaus of St. Paul, Cindi Scheffler of Maple Grove, Jonathon Edstrom of Brooklyn Park, Hunter Bartholomew of Coon Rapids, Hailey Sowden of Minnetonka, Paige Hanson of Blaine, Rachel Bailey of Andover and Mary and Caroline Henning of Coon Rapids.

Musical accompaniment by Steve Queznel of Robbinsdale and Denise Redman of Anoka, and light designer/operator by David Riisager of Minneapolis.

All of the actors in the show are professionals. Because the McCarthys own a theater company, they hire only professional actors.

"We have quality actors and performances. Because our shows are at the golf course, it has a picturesque quality," said Patti.

Another thing she said about this dinner theater is that the parking is free and "it's really nice for people to be able to go to a dinner theater in the northern suburb," Patti said.

They don't write original Christmas music for their production, but they try to find unusual music for their productions.

"We search high and low to find music," Patti said.

Show times and dates

Tickets are by reservation only and include a dinner and the play. There are several menu choices to choose from.

Prices for the Saturday and Sunday matinees are $29.95; prices for Sunday-Thursday nights are $34.95, and tickets for Friday and Saturday nights are $39.95.

The show runs Nov. 30 through Dec. 31

Midweek shows are Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, 2, 7, 9, 13, 14, 15, 16, 20, 21, 22, 23, 29, 30 dinner seating starts at 5:30 p.m. and the show starts at 7:30 p.m.

Evening shows on Fridays and Saturdays are Dec. 3, 4, 10, 11, 17, 18, 31; dinner seating starts at 6 p.m. and the show starts at 8 p.m.

Matinees shows shows on Saturdays and Sundays are Dec. 4, 5, 11, 12, 18, 19, 26; lunch seating starts at 10:45 a.m. and show starts at 12:30 p.m.

Evening shows on Sundays are Dec, 5, 12 and 26; dinner seating starts at 4:30 p.m. and show starts at 6:30 p.m.

For tickets call The Seasons Dinner Theater at 763-755-4444. It is located on Bunker Hills Golf Course at the corner of Highway 242 and Foley Boulevard in Coon Rapids.

The theater's next performance is Feb. 11-March 20 and it's a British mystery.

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