Old St. Nick: The Story Behind the Story
Twas the Night Before Christmas,” originally called “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” is one of the most beloved Christmas poems of all time. This classic story in verse tells of St. Nicholas’s visit to a house so quiet on Christmas Eve “not a creature is stirring, not even a mouse.” The charming rhyme is written by Clement Clarke Moore. But who was Moore, who was his family, and where did he get the inspiration for the story that has defined a child’s view of Christmas for generations? Those are the questions asked and answered in “Twas the Night Before Christmas,” a family musical presented by the Kelsey Players at the Kelsey Theatre at Mercer County Community College. Performances are Friday through Sunday, December 3 to 5, in what will be the tenth annual run of the Christmas classic.
Two of the young cast members hail from West Windsor. David Szemis, 12, plays one of Santa’s toys and is also a member of the Whittleby family. One of his favorite scenes in the play is when he and a group of other boys chase girls with snowballs — then get in trouble. He says he thinks he won a part in the play because he is “great at showing emotions.” Szemis, a sixth grader at St. Gregory the Great, says he knew he wanted to audition for the play when he first heard about it, and that he hopes to become an actor when he grow up. “Dad would read me the story every year so I knew what it was about. My mom gave me the option of trying out for Oliver and this, and I chose this because I knew the story.” Szemis sings, acts, and dances in the show.
He lives in Southfield Meadows with his mother, Christine, an electrical engineer at Lockheed Martin in Newtown, Pennsylvania, and his father, a programmer and systems analyst for Merrill Lynch in Pennington. He has two brothers who also go to St. Gregory — Kevin is 13 and in the eighth grade, and Stephen is six and in the first grade.
This is Szemis’ first production in community theatre but he has plenty of experience onstage. “I was in the school choir. I’ve taken trumpet lessons for four years. I participated in the Tomato Patch theater camp last summer. This is my first production at the Kelsey Theatre,” says Szemis, adding that he likes the fact that there are several children he knows from Tomato Patch in “‘Twas” but that he has also made new friends during the rehearsal process.
Michelle Long, 13, is also thinking about going into acting as a result of her involvement in “‘Twas.” In fact, the Grover Middle School eighth grader is thinking about applying to the Mercer County Performing Arts High School. “It was very scary auditioning,” she says. “I was afraid at first. I had to sing, dance, and speak some lines. I was afraid to sing in front of people but I’m not afraid anymore. Working together and making it fun has given me confidence. Next time I audition for something I will probably still get some butterflies but not as many.”
Long, who lives in Princeton Chase, was born in Bensalem, PA, and moved to West Windsor with her family when she was in sixth grade. Her brother, Andrew, 15, is a sophomore at High School South. Her father, Mike, works for Colgate-Palmolive in New York. Her mother, Gail, works at the Mercer County Library.
Long started dancing when she was three years old. While she has appeared in several recitals and dance shows, this is her first full theatre production. She dances with Dance Spectrums dance studio in West Windsor and takes classes in tap, jazz, modern, and competition. In the Kelsey production she plays a reindeer, an elf, and a townsperson. Her favorite costume is an old-fashioned dress with flowers and lace. Her favorite part in the play is when the elves and the toys dance together. They meet new people and make new friends, exactly what she says her own personal experience with the production has been like. With intense rehearsals two to three days a week Long says it has been hard to keep up with homework but it has been worth it. “It’s fun to see all of it come together. I love the experience and want to do more plays.”
“It’s the ideal show to kick off the holiday season for us at Kelsey, and it kicks it off for many families as well,” says Diane Wargo of Ewing, who is directing the show for the third time. “It just puts us in that mood.” Wargo also puts on her nightcap as Mrs. Moore and her gray ears as Diana Mouse. “The show embodies what Christmas is about. It is about your family and your love for your family. It is wonderful seeing it together with your family.”
— Euna Kwon Brossman
“Twas the Night Before Christmas,” Friday through Sunday, December 3 through 5, Kelsey Theater, Mercer College, 1200 Old Trenton Road, 609-584-9444. $8.
Traditions Festival in Plainsboro
Holiday season festivities get an international twist with Plainsboro’s Traditions celebration, now in its seventh year. Sample different New Year traditions of Asia and the Far East. Join in the festive holiday music and dance of Europe and the United States. Learn about ancient festival beginnings such as Winter Solstice and Twelfth Night.
This year’s event will take place on Saturday, December 4, from 12:30 to 4:45 p.m., at the Plainsboro municipal building, the public library, and Wicoff House. This event has won the New Jersey Recration and Parks Association Special Event Award, showcases the festivals, cultures, and holiday celebrations of east, west, north, and south, in a multitude of activities to delight young and old — dance, theater, musical performances, exhibits, folk crafts, demonstrations, stories, costumes, and more.
Some of the arts groups and community organizations sharing their seasonal or cultural traditions are Plainsboro chinese School, Nrithyanjali Institute of Dance, WWP Chinese Class, Princeton Korean Dance Troupe, Alborada Spansih Dance troupe, DeNogla Irish Dance School, Ballet Folklorico, and Handsome Molly Dancers. Also, Millstone River Morris Dancers, Ukrainian Dancers, Ten Thousand Villages, Griggstown Lock Rapper Sword Dancers, Junko Tano School of Dance, Lara & Yael Percussion Duo, Princeton Embroiderers’ Guild, and Plainsboro Historical Society.
Businesses and volunteer “chefs” specializing in ethnic cuisine will participate in cooking demonstrations, and the public library will showcase an international toy exhibit. Throughout the afternoon attendees use their “passports” as entry forms for door prizes, which will be awarded at the conclusion of the event.
Traditions, Saturday, December 5, Plainsboro municipal building, public library, and Wicoff House, 12:30 to 4:45 p.m. Activity schedules will be posted at the municipal complex the day before the event. Free. For more information call 609-799-0909.
Broadway, High Tea, and Golf Lessons
If you are still working your way through your holiday gift list, you might want to consider shopping at an unlikely place on Sunday, December 12. High School South hosts a musical theater gala and silent auction with food, student performances, and a wide variety of unique gifts available for auction. Proceeds from the event will help fund the Concert Choir, the 13-member a capella group First Edition, and the orchestra’s planned tour of Scotland next semester.
See if any of these items might be right for someone on your list: jewelry ranging in value from $100 to $1,”800; professional SAT tutoring; voice lessons; golf lessons with a pro-golfer a handmade star pattern quilt; a Berlitz language course; home decorating consultation; portrait session; calligraphy; riding lessons, entertainment by First Edition at a private function/party; and gift baskets and gift certificates from local restaurants and businesses. All items for the auction have been donated. “We are very fortunate to live in such a generous community,” says Janice Chapin, director of South’s choir program. “The support from our local businesses, parents, and faculty members make these programs possible.”
The ambitious international tour was the brainchild of Chapin and orchestra director Jean Mauro. “Traditionally the choir and orchestra have toured separately to festivals,” says Chapin, but she and Mauro thought it would be nice to have the groups travel together.” Why Scotland? Mauro, who is Scottish, had travelled there. “It was a place I had always been curious about,” she says. Working with a tour company, the organizers were able to get bookings for the three musical groups, and the dream was launched.
Like most dreams, financing is a necessary component to success. “It is expensive,” says Chapin of the trip, “but it is also a great experience for the students and thy are lucky to be able to go.” A total of 160 South students will be Scotland-bound — 60 from the choir and 100 from the orchestra. There will be also be 16 chaperones, including Mauro and Chapin. Rather than resort to bake sales and magazine, candy, and wrapping paper fundraisers to support their touring dreams, the musicians decided to sing for their supper. And airline tickets. And hotels. That’s where the idea for the musical theater gala was born.
Chapin is in her third year at South. “I replaced a man who was there for 25 years, and the kids really loved him, so it was a little hard coming in,” she says, adding that now South feels like home. “I love the kids. They are so much fun.” A native of Connecticut, Chapin, 42, and her husband, who teaches at Riverside School, have two children, an 18-year-old daughter and 15-year-old son who both attend Princeton Regional Schools. Chapin graduated from Westminster Choir College. “I met my husband there the first day,” Chapin says. “We’ll have been married 20 years in January.” Chapin taught music at Princeton’s John Witherspoon School for eight years before coming to South. She and her family live in Hightstown.
Tickets for the musical theater gala benefit are $10 and include a high tea with home baked desserts, coffee, tea and punch. The school will be transformed with decorations for the gala, says Chapin, so you will almost feel like you are at a fabulous hotel function. The auction begins when the doors open at 1:30 p.m., and bidding ends at 3:45 p.m. Members of the Concert Choir and First Edition will perform a Broadway musical revue beginning at 4 p.m. with excerpts from West Side Story and My Fair Lady. Individual members and small groups from the choir will perform sketches and songs as well.
Winners of the auction will be announced during intermission. And, Chapin cautions, you have to be there to win. But why would you want to leave, she says, with “great food and great performances, all for just $10?” That is, unless you want those golf lessons for Dad and the handmade quilt for Aunt Suzanne, then it will cost a little bit more. But what a great cause.
—Deb Cooperman
Musical Theater Gala Benefit, High School South, Sunday, December 12, 1:30 p.m. Tickets, $10, available in advance and at the door. For information call 609-716-5050 ext. 7337.
When God’s House Gets Renovated
After 200 years, it’s not surprising that a few renovations might be necessary. The First Presbyterian Church of Dutch Neck began as a meeting house in 1797 — a log structure with a cemetery. The church, one of the oldest in West Windsor, was built in 1816, replacing the log structure, and there were several renovations to the property over the years. A few years ago, church member and Plainsboro resident Kyle van Dyke, an architect who owns his own business, Kyle Paul Van Dyke Architecture, led the construction coordination committee to spearhead a complete renovation of the church.
Three years later, the 560-member pristine white church with its classic steeple at 154 South Mill Road holds a rededication and open house for its sanctuary building Sunday, December 12, as part of the regular 9:30 a.m. service. Worship will be led by Reverend Dr. Floyd W. Churn, followed by refreshments during the church’s regular fellowship time, beginning at 10:45 a.m. All are welcome, especially neighbors in West Windsor and surrounding towns. Child care is available during the service. From noon to 2 p.m. the church holds an open house at its sanctuary building.
“This sanctuary has been a sacred space for many worshippers for over 188 years,” says Reverend Churn. “We consider any sanctuary to be ‘God’s house,’ one of the places where the divine and human intersect for a faith community. We came to realize that we were caring better for our own homes than God’s house, and that it was time to attend to the discrepancy.”
A three-year capital campaign supported the renovation efforts and was chaired by West Windsor resident Bart Brubaker and Princeton resident Larry Merla. The total cost of the renovations exceeded $1 million.
Kyle van Dyke specializes in small-scale residential and commercial projects, as well as churches and historic renovations. He is also in the seventh year of overseeing the renovation of Schenck Farm in West Windsor into a walk-through museum. Schenk Farm is home to one of the oldest barns in the country, built during the mid-1700s.
As the architect for the church’s renovation, van Dyke oversaw the planning and construction for every aspect of the project, including personally designing every alteration. “We did planning for three-quarters of the year, then did construction over the course of four summers,” says van Dyke, who attended Mercer County Community College for two years, then earned a bachelors of architecture from Kansas State University in 1980. In addition to his architectural firm, he is an adjunct design instructor at Mercer.
“The church had had three additions and it was in bad repair,” says van Dyke. The renovations included putting in a new foundation, reinforcing the floor, putting on a new roof, and installing new custom windows and a new heating system. All the siding was removed, the framing reinforced, and new siding installed. In the sanctuary, the organ was rebuilt, new carpet installed, new pew cushions put in, the walls painted, and the pulpit furniture restored and renovated. Perhaps the most welcome addition is the installation of air conditioning. The pastor’s house was renovated and new lighting and floors were put in the education building.
Van Dyke and his wife, Merry, who works part-time at Princeton Tennis Center, have five children. Justin, 23, graduated from High School South in 2000 and from Rollins College in Florida in 2004. He is applying to law schools. Ashley, 20, graduated from North in 2002 and attends Mercer County College part-time. Shannon, 18, is a senior at North. Greyson, 14, is a freshman at North. Ryder, 6, is a first grader at Wicoff.
In addition to his work, family, and church commitments, van Dyke is also a guitarist and songwriter. His band, KVD Project, which includes Dave Hanneman of West Windsor, has performed throughout the area, including “Story and Songs” with West Windsor residents Carol Heffler and Trish Miele at McCaffrey’s, a concert under the auspices of the West Windsor Arts Council. The KVD Project has played at Conduit in Trenton, opening for Sally Taylor (James Taylor and Carly Simon’s daughter), and for Jen Chapin (Harry Chapin’s daughter). Van Dyke has a CD called “Inspiration’s Free,” available on www.cdbaby.com.
— Jamie Saxon
Open House and Rededication of the First Presbyterian Church of Dutch Neck, Sunday, December 12, 154 South Mill Road, West Windsor, 9:30 a.m. 609-799-0712.
