Blinn Theatre – Bryan & Brenham
Upcoming Christmas Performances
Information courtesy of | Blinn College
Whether you’re in Bryan OR Brenham, love Jane Austen OR Charles Dickens, Blinn’s Theatre Arts Program has something for you to celebrate this festive season.
Blinn-Bryan Theatre Troupe embraces the holiday season with a healthy dose of Jane Austen Back to Top
‘Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley’ runs Nov. 28-30 at the Blinn-Bryan Student Center with an abridged community performance at St. Andrew’s Church in downtown Bryan on Dec. 1
The Blinn-Bryan Theatre Troupe (BBTT) brings the world of Jane Austen to life this holiday season with its upcoming production of Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon’s “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley,” a heartfelt imagined sequel to the classic “Pride and Prejudice.”
“This play is just so much fun and a great way to kick off the holiday season. It will really warm your heart,” Blinn-Bryan Theatre Director Greg Wise said. “It’s a period piece so our students get to explore the Regency period, speak in British accents, and dress in period costumes. If you don’t know Jane Austen, you’re missing something.”
First produced in 2016, “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley” reintroduces the audience to the Bennet sisters of “Pride and Prejudice” with a new focus on nerdy, unmarried middle sister Mary. Two years after the novel ends, the family has gathered at the Pemberley estate for the holidays. Tired of her role as the dutiful daughter and sister, Mary yearns for independence. When an unexpected guest sparks her interest, Mary may finally have met her match. A romantic comedy at heart, “Miss Bennet” celebrates sisterhood and all the joy of the holiday season.
Texas A&M University Performance Studies major Syara Villareal, who plays Mary, hopes the audience resonates with her character’s strength and the theme of familial bonds.
“The play is such a warm Christmas story all about love, sisters, and coming into your own as a person,” Villareal said. “Mary is so strong-willed and independent, but you see someone who’s really finding out who they are and how does that correlate to finding love and being with her family?”
Mackenzie Owens, who plays the eldest Bennet sister Jane Bingley, hopes the audience enjoys the show’s hilarious sisterly banter and period costumes.
“We’re going to have period outfits and wigs – it’s going to be so much fun,” Owens said. “Who doesn’t love a British accent?”
The cast also includes Augustus Cosby as Arthur DeBourgh, Ashley Wienecke as Elizabeth Darcy, Matthew Burhus as Fitzwilliam Darcy, Seth Cook as Charles Bingley, Abigail Boyd as Lydia Wickham, Chrissy Hockensmith as Anne DeBourgh, Jordan Ingram as the Maid, and Seth Arroyo as the Butler.
Production team members are Marie Townsend, stage manager; Karenza McRae, assistant stage manager; Daylin Darnell, properties designer and production assistant; David Gipson, light design; Fabian Santana, light board operator; Roisin Alexis, sound design; Rachel Smeltzer, production assistant; Seth Arroyo and Jordan Ingram, costumes; and Lizzete Velez, house manager and marketing.
Full-length performances run at the Blinn-Bryan Student Center (Building F, map) Tuesday through Thursday, Nov. 28-30. The BBTT will bring an excerpt of the play to St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church during downtown Bryan’s First Friday, Dec. 1. All performances take place at 6 p.m. and tickets are available at www.blinn.edu/boxoffice.
The show is recommended for ages 12 and up.
The Troupe will continue its season in the spring with Nick Payne’s “Constellations” Feb. 15-18 and Jeff Bowen’s [title of show] April 18-21 and April 24-25.
To learn more about the BBTT, contact Wise at greg.wise@blinn.edu. For more information about Blinn’s Theatre Arts Program, visit www.blinn.edu/theatre.
Blinn-Brenham Theatre Arts Program will present ‘Tiny Tim’s Christmas Carol’ Nov. 30-Dec. 3 Back to Top
Production is adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic story
The Blinn College-Brenham Campus Theatre Arts Program will stage one of the holiday season’s most cherished stories with four public performances of “Tiny Tim’s Christmas Carol.”
Performances will be at 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday, Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 2 and 3, at the Dr. W.W. O’Donnell Performing Arts Center at 600 Blinn Boulevard on the Brenham Campus. Previews for area public schools will be Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. both days.
Tickets to each performance are $10 for adults and $5 for Blinn students and children. They are available online at www.blinn.edu/boxoffice, by calling 979-830-4024, or emailing boxoffice@blinn.edu.
Theatre Arts Professor Brad Nies will direct the play.
“Adapted from the classic Charles Dickens’ novel, Tony Award winner Ken Ludwig and his son Jack have written a heartwarming Christmas tale for the whole family,” Nies said. “This new adaptation, which includes some popular Christmas carols, is sure to make the audience feel alive with the spirit of the holiday.”
In the production, Tiny Tim is determined to have his father home for Christmas day, even if it means teaching Ebenezer Scrooge a lesson in kindness. With the help of a few friends, Tiny Tim stages a spectacle filled with ghosts and Christmas cheer in the hopes of warming the heart of London’s stingiest man.”
Student performers are Quinn Gonzalez-Moore, Tiny Tim and young Scrooge; Y’Lila Willis, Charlotte, Belle, Emily, and Girl; Maygen Meadows, Puppet Seller, Christmas Past, and Mrs. Cratchit; Matthew Wawarofsky, Pie Seller, Fezziwig, and Christmas Present; Samantha Nolen, Book Seller, Mrs. Fezziwig, and Gravedigger; Aidan Johnson, Ebenezer Scrooge; Eric Cruz, Stevens; Andrew Jackson, Hollyfoot; Joshua Delossantos, Bob Cratchit; Jayden Peavy, Fred; and Josiah Bartlett, Ryan Kendall, and Jordan Murrell as offstage carolers.
Technical Theatre Arts Professor Kevin Patrick will serve as technical director and theatre department Instructor Jennifer Patrick will oversee costumes, makeup, and hair design.
Students in the production crew are Steve Torres, stage manager, dramaturg, and student music coordinator; Jordan Murrell, assistant stage manager, dramaturg, and student music coordinator; Ryan Kendall, understudy and student music coordinator; Josiah Bartlett, student music coordinator; Luke Parker student costume design; Bianca O’Neal, student properties design; and Steven Houlihan, student sound design.
Technicians are Fabian Carranza, Aliana Hernandez, Peyton Jolly, Madison Manchester, Lily Marrs, Ana Soto, and Benedite Trecy.
Following the production of “Tiny Tim’s Christmas Carol,” the 2023-24 season will continue with “Medea,” Feb. 22-25; and “The Yellow Wallpaper,” April 18-21. The theme of this year’s plays is “A Year of the Supernatural.”
Additionally, the program’s improvisation troupe “Slaphappy” will perform April 4 at 7 p.m. at the O’Donnell Center. Blinn-Brenham also will host the top six Region III 3A and Region IV 1A high school one-act plays April 26 and 27 at the O’Donnell Center, with winners advancing to the State University Interscholastic League One-Act Play Championship.
Blinn’s Theatre Arts Program cultivates a quality educational foundation of study, application, and experience through a wide range of performance, technical, and production studies. Its Associate of Arts degree plan integrates artistic, technical, and academic disciplines of theatre from the classroom to the stage. Students have an opportunity to audition for a variety of performances related to drama and theatre and are prepared to transfer to four-year colleges and universities. For more information, visit www.blinn.edu/theatre.
About the Blinn College District With innovative programs and award-winning co-enrollment partnerships, Blinn’s academic transfer rate ranks No. 1 among Texas community colleges. For more information, visit www.blinn.edu.