As a part of the Christmas activities on campus, the Pied Pipers will host their annual Christmas show on Dec. 1 at 11 a.m. in the Ulrey Performing Arts Center.
The theater group will mix both traditional improvisational skits and holiday elements for a lighthearted and cheerful show, said director Dottie Frye.
“We always want to have fresh stories,” senior RC Tucker said. “Any kind of characterization that you saw or any improv that you saw at a previous show we won’t do because no two Piper shows are ever the same. A tradition at Christmas Piper shows is that we do ‘Twelve Days of Christmas.’ It’s completely improv and we act out everything that we do. It becomes chaotic but it’s wonderful.”
Pied Pipers’ main target age group is kindergarten to sixth grade, but their shows attract both the young and the young at heart.
“We want both young and old to participate; the most important parts of a Piper show are imagination and participation,” Frye said.
The Pied Pipers perform four shows in Searcy each year at Homecoming, Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Spring Sing. Home shows allow the Pipers’ friends and families in the community to enjoy the group’s improv skills. Because there are not as many visitors on campus at Christmas time, it is usually a smaller show. Owens said she enjoys the personal aspect of having a smaller audience for the holiday show.
“I love the Christmas show because the children that do come we will get to ask them about their favorite color and about their best friend and what they want to be when they grow up,” junior Emily Owens said. “It’s really exciting because that’s why we want them to come. It’s always great when you see repeats.”
The Pied Pipers finished a three-day tour in La Place, La., on Nov. 11, where they performed 25 shows at three elementary schools. The group performed for each grade, kindergarten – eighth, which allowed for smaller audiences of about 50 or 60 children each.
“The tour in La Place was a really good stretching experience because you go in and sing ‘Itsy Bitsy Spider’ to kindergarten and then a few minutes later the fifth graders roll in and you have to up your maturity level to reach them,” Owens said. “It’s a good experience for us in that respect because we got to find out which Pipers related best to each age group.”
While in La Place, the group stayed with senior Pied Piper Scotti Beth Lawson’s family. In addition to performing, the Pipers helped do minor repair work on houses in the area. Owens said in that way, the Pipers got to be a part of the relief by both helping lift spirits and making the kids feel loved.
