Pinocchio set to take stage during COTR

As Christmas on the River approaches, so too does the return of another annual holiday tradition as the Canebrake Players ready for their latest children’s production.

This year, the Canebrake Players have selected Pinocchio for the children’s play as a means of both bringing to life a classic tale and paying homage to the heritage of the Canebrake program.

“It was kind of a consensus of our board because the building is 100 years old this year,” children’s play director Jennifer Roemen said of the selection process, which took into account the antiquity of the Old School that has become known as the Canebrake Theatre. “That is an old classic and they did that real early on in the Canebrake.”

As Roemen has juggled the responsibilities of putting together the newest production of the show, she has also worked to find some of those who were in the Canebrake’s original version of the story.

“I know a couple of people that were in the cast. I’m going to see if I can find who all might have been in it and have them there,” Roemen said.

Amid a unique set and challenging costumes, Roemen has worked to corral the schedules and hiccups that often accompany working with a cast of 28 young people.

“So far, the best rehearsal we’ve had was only missing three. We have not had a whole everybody, everything yet,” Roemen said of a rehearsal process that started in September. “That’ll probably be on opening day.”

New to the stage, fifth grader Eddie Coats will take one the title role of Pinocchio. Matt Dollar is set to portray Gepetto while Tristan Mullen is the Fire-Eater and Carter Stroud brings life to the role of the Candlewick.

The play is an interesting contrast from the decidedly more modern 2012 production of Junie B. Jones: Jingle Bells, Batman Smells.

“Last year, the children all were so familiar with Junie Jones,” Roemen said. “The children are not as familiar with the Pinocchio story.”

The play will open Friday, Dec. 7 at 2 p.m. with another matinee set for Sunday, Dec. 8 at 2 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13 and Saturday, Dec. 14 are slated for 7 p.m. performances while the show is set to close Sunday, Dec. 15 at 2 p.m.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children.