As the cold weather drives most people indoors, it’s a wonderful time to explore the offerings of the Athens-area theater groups and productions. The winter season is lively with a mix of traditional plays, ballets and more. Town & Gown Players is closing out its year with the holiday-themed musical A Spell for Winter, an original by locals Derek Adams (book, lyrics and direction) and Jonathan Sparks (music and music direction).
Set in a fantastical world during the winter solstice at Solacer Wynd School of Technical Magic and Tavern Management, the play focuses on Winter, a student who cannot cast a single spell and is facing flunking out of college. While everyone around her is enjoying the best night of the year, Winter must figure out how to cast a spell in a single night, while also facing her past, a ghost, her classmates and more in the process. Adams likens the atmosphere to the classic A Christmas Carol, explaining it’s full of big emotions and lessons to be learned.
“If you like musicals, this is a musical. There are big dance numbers, wizards, magic, a ghost. There is a happy ending, even though it’s pretty sad because it’s about a character dealing with loss,” says Adams.
After his 25 years of involvement at Town & Gown and wearing a variety of community theater hats, A Spell for Winter is Adams’ first personal work adapted to the stage. Originally the piece was a flash fiction short story, then about five years ago Adams and Sparks turned it into a one-act audio drama. Patiently waiting for the right opportunity to premiere a full theatrical production, Adams and Sparks debuted A Spell for Winter last weekend.
“Our leads are 20-year musical theater veterans in town, so it’s in pretty safe hands,” says Adams. “Half the cast I had never worked with before. That’s what’s fun. It’s always a rotating door, especially as you get older.”
As a lifetime fantasy fan, Adams began writing short stories and novels inspired by a Dungeons & Dragons game he was a part of. Busy with work and life responsibilities, the group mainly met via an online forum where the tale was typed out. The world and characters that Adams was writing about were pulled directly from the game that he and friends were building, including that of A Spell for Winter.
“If I’m trying to write something that’s not fantasy, I feel like, but wouldn’t it be cool if someone had a sword, you know? And then the answer is yes, and then I put a sword in,” says Adams.
Adams and Sparks have long been creative partners, and outside of theater they have run a podcast network for about 15 years. The duo also began creating Christmas albums while in college as a cheap gift for friends, featuring classic songs and skits in between. A simple idea evolved into a more elaborate project with mini narratives and musicals. Adams, who already had the short story version of A Spell for Winter, brought the idea to Sparks to develop it into a one act drama for their 10th anniversary Christmas album.
“It seems like obviously heading towards a musical was where we were always going. But we didn’t know that,” says Adams. “That was why it became the audio drama version. We did, in fact, write it and record it all in 30 days. We did not release it in 30 days because there’s all this, you know, sound design and musical work that Jonathan had to do.”
After many forms that have developed through different motivations, A Spell for Winter’s community theater production now has a new life shaped by the energy and touch each member of Town & Gown brings. Cast members include Michael Moretti, Tenley Moretti, Killian Ross, Tate Venable and Hannah Walker.
“What’s special about theater is that it’s ephemeral. It’ll be gone. This is your one shot at it. I’m hoping people really enjoy that aspect of it,” says Adams.
For more info and to purchase tickets, visit townandgownplayers.org.
WHO: A Spell for Winter
WHEN: Dec. 12–14, 8 p.m. Dec. 15, 2 p.m.
WHERE: Town & Gown Players
HOW MUCH: $23.09
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