ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Christmastime is here!
Live stage performance of “Charlie Brown” coming to Times Square
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
“Isn’t there anyone who
knows what Christmas
is all about?”
A long-time Christmas favorite
is hitting the big stage in
New York City.
“A Charlie Brown Christmas:
Live on Stage” is coming to
The Palladium Times Square,
located at 1515 Broadway, for
a limited run on Dec. 21-24.
Before coming to NYC, the
show run in Westchester from
Dec. 3-19 at the Chappaqua
Performing Arts Center.
“Having been born and
raised in New York City, and
now a Westchester resident for
the past 15 years, it is especially
exciting to bring this iconic holiday
classic to both New York
City and Westchester,” said Producer
Todd Gershwin.
The show, written by Charles
Schulz, brings the popular
Christmas classic to life with
Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy,
Linus and the rest of the Peanuts
characters in their journey to
uncover the true meaning of
Christmas. Directed by Robert
Coulson, the cast of A Charlie
Brown Christmas: Live on Stage
features D’Marreon Alexander
as Linus, Giuliana Augello as
Violet, Connor Barr as Charlie
Brown, Sophia Delucchi as
Sally Brown, Chloe Gabila
Lower East Side to host first Holiday Parade
BY AIDAN SEIDEN
For the fi rst time in New
York City history, the
Lower East Side will be
hosting a Holiday Parade,
sponsored by the Seward Park
Cooperative Board, in partnership
with the New York Pacemakers
(an all senior citizen
dance team) and the FDNY
and NYPD.
The parade will be an allinclusive
holiday celebration
with surprise guest appearances
from Santa and Mrs. Claus,
along with a Chanukah celebrant
and a Kwanzaa celebrant
all atop a vintage fi re truck.
Susan Avery, founder of the
New York Pacemakers, fi rst
came up with the idea for a “fun
diverse parade” after realizing
that the neighborhood she had
grown to know and love, as a
third generation Lower East
Sider, was quickly changing.
“These days people are on
unsteady ground,” says Avery.
“Between the pandemic and
politics, there is a lot of unsteadiness
in the world, so I thought,
‘why not bring some joy to my
beloved neighborhood.”
Following the Co-op Board’s
approval, Avery called up Santa
and Mrs. Claus (who is actually
Avery in disguise), and
organized the parade, which
will be taking place on Sunday,
Dec. 12, at 1 p.m., beginning on
Grand Street & Pitt Street.
Accompanying The Clauses
will be 20 of the New York
Pacemakers, all dressed in festive
holiday-themed costumes—
including Charles Dickens’
characters, candy girls and even
elves— while they hand out
candy canes and Chanukah gelt
(chocolate coins) and dance to
the wide range of music that
will be playing alongside the
truck.
“We are embracing all our
ethnicities of the Lower East
Side, and bringing a few hours
of joy to the neighborhood,”
Avery says. “We will be playing
music that represents Christmas,
Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and
music in Spanish for our beloved
Latino community”
It was very important to Avery—
and The Clauses as she
points out— that the cast of
characters in the parade are inclusive
and represent “the real
world,” she says.
The main goal of the parade
is to spark holiday spirit in everybody,
and bring joy to the
PHOTO BY RICHARD TERMINE
(Ensemble), Andrew Hainz as
Pigpen, Will Jewett as Snoopy,
Brent C. Mauldin as Schroeder,
Lucy Rhoades as Frieda, Sam
Sanderson (Ensemble), Elliot
Wallace as Shermy, Emma
T. Wilcox as Patty, and Leah
Windahl as Lucy.
Tickets start at $25 and are
available on Ticketmaster.com.
neighborhood, says Avery.
“Come out and say hello to
Santa and Mrs. Claus,” she says,
“and just know that it really is a
way to bring joy to the world.”
16 December 9, 2021 Schneps Media
/Ticketmaster.com
