The Sanders Family Singers will be home for Christmas, starting Halloween, in Crossville, Tenn.
A week after the close of "Smoke on the Mountain," the original bluegrass/gospel musical by Connie Ray and Alan Bailey, its sequel, "Sanders Family Christmas," will usher in the holiday season for the 16th time at the Cumberland County Playhouse.
"Sanders Family Christmas" is set on Christmas Eve 1941. America is going to war, and so is Dennis Sanders. So the family members gather for one last holiday sing before Dennis ships out to boot camp. They'll join Pastor Mervin Oglethorpe and his congregation at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church to share their testimony and music - some 25 Southern gospel-style Christmas favorites, from "Christmas Time's A-Comin'" to "Beautiful Star of Bethlehem."
Directed by Weslie Webster, the cast features Cody Murphy as Pastor Oglethorpe, Patty Payne as June Sanders, Daniel Black as Burl Sanders, Lauren Marshall as Vera Sanders (also the show's music director) and Malachi Banegas and Ellie Burnett as twins Dennis and Denise.
In addition to its Crossville run, which extends through Sunday, Dec. 21, the production will have three out-of-town tour dates in Southeast Tennessee: Sunday, Nov. 30, in Dayton; Thursday, Dec. 4, in Cleveland; and Friday, Dec. 12, in Etowah.