Loras Players to Present a Christmas ‘Miracle’

The Loras Players continue their annual Christmas tradition of a radio performance with Miracle on 34^th Street debuting on Saturday, December 12.

The performance, by members of The Guild of Saint Genesius, Loras College’s honor society for theatre arts, will debut as an episode of the Duhawk Digest, Loras College’s weekly podcast.

“My students felt quite strongly that they wanted the tradition to continue,” Ryan Decker, director of theater and advisor to the Guild, said. “GSG had been producing Christmas story anthologies, but we decided to fill the program with a singular narrative and Miracle on 34^th Street fits nicely.”

Jake Heelein (’22) directed the play and is also a member of the cast, along with Amelia Foley (’21), Sam Martin (’21), Catherine Weltzer (’21), Josh Vogt (’21), Emily Lemire (’22), Emma Hennessy (’23), Lillian Feltes (’23), Brittany Zanazaro (’20), Nell Boylan (’22), and Dr. John Eby.

Miracle on 34^th Street is the second radio play that the Loras Players have performed this semester. On Halloween, they shared the H.G. Wells classic War of the Worlds. According to Decker, recording Miracle was a technical challenge.  

“Unlike War of the Worlds, we did this one hybrid,” he said. “We eventually recorded everything socially distanced around a single webcast mic I own in the lobby of Hoffmann Hall with some cast members Zooming in on a laptop placed under the mic. The fact that any recording of any quality at all exists is a Christmas miracle itself.”

Miracle on 34^th Street is the story of a department store Santa who claims he’s the real Kris Kringle. When his case gets taken all the way to the Supreme Court, the belief of a little girl makes all the difference.

The Guild of St. Genesius’ performance of Miracle on 34^th Street will be available on the Loras Daily website at 10:00 a.m. on December 12.