As of
11/13/17
2017 THE POLAR EXPRESS CAST
· LEAD: Matthew Steinkamp
· BRAINIAC: Reese Gilleland
· BILLY/ YOUNG BOY DUET: Aiden Kennedy
· YOUNG GIRL DUET: Mercedes Watson
· SARAH ( SISTER): Sydney Tarantino
· SANTA CLAUS: Tyler Crews
· ELVES:
· LILY SOVANN
· LYNSEIGH SANTAARONE
· EMMA DEDRICK
· GABBY CARR
· SHERRI SCHUKNECHT
· LEIGHTYN SANTARONE
· GWEN KINGSTON
· CARRIGAN LAVERY
· OLIVIA BONNER
· CHELSEA BONNER
· ROSE MONTE
· DILANA JOYCE
· SAYLOR EDENFIELD
· CONDUCTOR: Caleb Morgan
· NARRATOR 1: Hunter Richland
· NARRATOR 2: Kaley Farhat
· MOM: Kennedy Reeves
· DAD: Cole Leaton
· CHILD ONE: Sophia Glover
· CHILD TWO: Egla Lopez
· CHILD THREE: Bridgett Connor
· "SPIRIT OF THE SEASON": Piper Kosakowski and Egla Lopez
· "BELIEVE": Sophia Glover and Kaitlyn Anderson
· “When Christmas Comes to Town”: Aiden Kennedy and Mercedes Watson
Hickory Creek Elementary Polar Express
Scene 1: Bedroom (Bed at front of stage. LEAD is lying on bed and will act out what the narrators read.
.
NARRATOR 1: On Christmas Eve, many years ago, I lay quietly in my bed. I did not rustle the sheets. I breathed slowly and silently. I was listening for a sound …a sound a friend had told me I’d never hear…the ringing bells of Santa’s sleigh.
“There is no Santa,” my friend had insisted, but I knew he was wrong.
Late that night I DID hear sounds, though not of ringing bells.
NARRATOR 2: From outside came the sounds of hissing steam and squeaking metal.
NARRATOR 1: I looked through my window and saw a train standing perfectly still in front of my house.
NARRATOR 2: It was wrapped in an apron of steam. Snowflakes fell lightly around it.
NARRATOR 2: A CONDUCTOR stood at the open door of one of the cars.
NARRATOR 1: He took a large pocket watch from his vest, and then looked up at my window. I put on my slippers and robe. I tiptoed downstairs and out the door.
CONDUCTOR: All aboard!
(LEAD doesn’t move.)
CONDUCTOR: Well, are you coming?
LEAD: Where?
CONDUCTOR: Why, to the North Pole, of course. This is the Polar Express.
Scene 2: The Magic Train (Bench at front of stage.)
NARRATOR 2: The train was filled with other children, all in their pajamas and nightgowns.
PENELOPE: Hey you guys! Do you know what kind of a train this is?
YOUNG GIRL: Of course! It’s a magic train.
PENELOPE: Actually, it’s a Baldwin 284S3 Class Y2 type steam locomotive built in 1931 by Baldwin Locomotive Works. It weighs 456,100 pounds and has a track with top speed at…
LEAD: (Interrupting) Are we REALLY going to the North Pole?
YOUNG GIRL: Yes, isn’t it wonderful?
NARRATOR 1: We sang Christmas carols and ate candies with nougat centers as white as snow.
SCENE 3: The Conductor and Hot Chocolate
CONDUCTOR: Tickets, please. (Repeat it several times. Joins cast on stage, punching each ticket and faces LEAD.
CONDUCTOR: Young man, do you have a ticket?
LEAD: Uh…uh… (He looks at CONDUCTOR with a blank, confused look.)
CONDUCTOR: Look in your pocket. (LEAD looks in one pocket.)
CONDUCTOR: Look in your OTHER pocket. (LEAD looks in the other one and magically finds a ticket!
CONDUCTOR: Very good. (He winks at LEAD, punches his ticket and exits stage area.)
NARRATOR 1: We drank hot cocoa as thick and rich as melted chocolate bars.
PENELOPE: Did you know that Montezuma, the king of the Aztecs, would drink 50 quarts of hot chocolate every day! But he would put chili peppers in it instead of sugar! Get it??? HOT CHOCOLATE!
(All students laugh!)
Scene 4: Duet (Caboose is set front/center stage with BILLY and YOUNG GIRL.)
NARRATOR 2: Outside, the lights of towns and villages flickered in the distance as the Polar Express raced northward. Soon there were no more lights to be seen.
NARRATOR 1: We traveled through cold, dark forests, where lean wolves roamed and white-tailed rabbits hid from our train as it thundered through the quiet wilderness.
Scene 5: The North Pole! Stage set with City backdrops to the back and bench to the front (stage right) with LEAD, BILLY, YOUNG GIRL, AND PENELOPE seated. CHILD 1, CHILD 2, and CHILD 3 stand behind.
NARRATOR 1: We climbed mountains so high it seemed as if we would scrape the moon.
NARRATOR 2: But the Polar Express never slowed down. Faster and faster we ran along, rolling over peaks and through valleys like a car on a roller coaster.
NARRATOR 2: The mountains turned into hills, the hills to snow-covered plains.
NARRATOR 1: We crossed a barren desert of ice: The Great Polar Ice Cap.
NARRATOR 2: Lights appeared in the distance. They looked like the lights of a strange ocean liner sailing on a frozen sea.
CONDUCTOR: (walks to front of stage as he points to city scene.)
Boys and girls….THE NORTH POLE!
NARRATOR 2: The North Pole. It was a huge city standing alone at the top of the world, filled with factories where every Christmas toy was made.
CHILD 1: But where are the elves?
CONDUCTOR: They are gathering at the center of the city. That is where Santa will give the first gift of Christmas.
CHILD 2: Who receives the first gift?
CONDUCTOR: He will choose one of you.
CHILD 3: Look! The elves!
NARRATOR 1: Outside, we saw hundreds of elves. As our train drew closer to the center of the North Pole, we slowed to a crawl, so crowded were the streets with Santa’s helpers.
NARRATOR 2: When the Polar Express could go no farther, we stopped and the Conductor led us outside.
NARRATOR 1: We pressed through the crowd to the edge of a large, open circle. In front of us stood Santa’s sleigh.
NARRATOR 2: The reindeer were excited. They pranced and paced ringing the silver sleigh bells that hung from their harnesses.
NARRATOR 2: One of the bells fell off of a harness.
NARRATOR 1: I stooped and picked it up.
(LEAD reaches down to pick up bell.)
NARRATOR 1: As I shook it, it made no sound at all.
LEAD: That’s strange. This bell doesn’t work.
LEAD continues to shake the bell, then he closes his eyes and says:
LEAD: Okay…I believe…I believe…
Then as he shakes the bell, the sound of the bell can be heard (band member.) LEAD opens his eyes wide, in surprise!
NARRATOR 1: It was a magical sound, like nothing I’d ever heard.
NARRATOR 2: Across the circle, the elves and children moved apart and Santa Claus appeared.
SANTA: Ho! Ho! Ho! (Repeat several times to audience. Walk up steps and say…) Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas!
NARRATOR 2: Everyone cheered wildly. (All children cheer and clap.)
NARRATOR 1: He marched over to us and, pointing to me, said:
SANTA: What did you just say?
LEAD: I said….I believe…I believe…I believe this is yours, sir.
SANTA: Thank you, young man. Now what would YOU like for Christmas?
NARRATOR 1: I knew that I could have any gift I could imagine. But the thing I wanted most for Christmas was not inside Santa’s giant bag. What I wanted more than anything was that one silver, beautiful, magical bell!
(LEAD whispers in SANTA’s ear.)
NARRATOR 1: When I asked, Santa Claus smiled.
NARRATOR 2: He stood, holding the bell high above him and called out:
SANTA: The first gift of Christmas! This bell is a wonderful symbol of the spirit of Christmas, just as I am. Just remember: The true spirit of Christmas lies in your hearts.
NARRATOR 2: A clock struck midnight as the elves roared their approval.
ALL CHILDREN “ROAR!”
NARRATOR 1: Santa handed the bell to me, and I put it in my bathrobe pocket.
SANTA: Oh my! Look at the time. We must be going if we are going to get all of the toys delivered on time! Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas to all!
Scene 6: Songs and Dance Clear stage for dance.
CONDUCTOR: Where has the time gone? Okay, boys and girls! All aboard!!
(LEAD, BILLY, YOUNG GIRL, and PENELOPE run up on stage and stand together as if back on the train.)
NARRATOR 2: As soon as we were back inside the Polar Express, the other children asked to see the bell.
PENELOPE: Can I see the bell?
NARRATOR 1: I reached into my pocket but the only thing I felt was a hole. I had lost the silver bell from Santa Claus’s sleigh!
YOUNG GIRL: Oh no! That’s so sad! Let’s hurry outside and look for it!
BILLY: Yes, we’ll help you look for it!
NARRATOR 2: But the train gave a sudden lurch and started moving. (Cast members lurch forward as if the train is moving.)
NARRATOR 1: We were on our way home. It broke my heart to lose the bell.
(Pause)
NARRATOR 1: When the train reached my house, I sadly left the other children.
(LEAD walks to side of stage and waves goodbye. CONDUCTOR AND CAST are on other side of stage. )
NARRATOR1: I stood at my doorway and waved good-bye. The CONDUCTOR said something from the moving train, but I couldn’t hear him.
LEAD: (YELLS) What?
CONDUCTOR: (cups hands around mouth and yells) MERRY CHRISTMAS!!
NARRATOR 2: The Polar Express let out a loud blast from its whistle and sped away.
Scene 7: Home
NARRATOR 1: On Christmas morning my little sister Sarah and I opened our presents.
NARRATOR 2: When it looked as if everything had been unwrapped, Sarah found one last small box behind the tree.
SISTER: Hey! Look! There’s one more present…and it has YOUR name on it! (She hands the box to LEAD who opens it up.
NARRATOR 2: Inside was the silver bell! There was a note:
SANTA: (Reads aloud from backstage with music.) Found this on the seat of my sleigh. Fix that hole in your pocket. Mr. C.
(LEAD shakes the bell.)
NARRATOR 1: I shook the bell. It made the most beautiful sound my sister and I had ever heard. But my mother said:
MOM: Mr. C.? Who is Mr. C.?
DAD: (sarcastically) That’s a really great gift. The thing is broken!!
(SISTER and LEAD look at each other and smile.)
NARRATOR 1: When I’d shaken the bell, my parents had not heard a sound. At one time most of my friends could hear the bell, but as years passed, it fell silent for all of them.
NARRATOR 2: Even Sarah found one Christmas that she could no longer hear its sweet sound.
NARRATOR 1: Though I’ve grown old, the bell still rings for me as it does for all who truly believe.
NARRATOR 2: Whether you celebrate Christmas or Hanukkah during this holiday season, may you once again believe in the miracles of the season.
BOTH NARRATORS: Happy Holidays from all of us!
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