WOLFVILLE – The number 24 is doubly significant this Christmas season in Wolfville.
Not only is that number easily recognized as Christmas Eve, it will also mark a special anniversary of the town’s festive fan-favourite Fezziwig Family Christmas Frolic, for which the theme this year is ‘’Twas the Wolf Before Christmas.’
This year’s show – Fezziwig's twenty-fourth – asks the audience several questions, among them “Did you ever hear how Wolfville got its name? Did it have anything to do with a family named Riding Hood and their grannie?”
Its cast will number 80 people this year and will feature newcomers alongside long-time cast members including Mike Butler, who has been a cast member for eight years. This year, Butler will play Little Red Riding Hood’s Grannie.
He says the show has become an annual tradition for himself and many others across the Annapolis Valley.
“Each year, in a dress and often with my beard, I've gotten to play the grandest of dames… It's always a fun, wonderful, collective effort each year and I know we all take part for some of the same reasons; to entertain our families and friends and have a blast just being silly for a few hours,” says Butler.
“It's a treat to be a part of the song and dance and over-the-top humor each year.”
The script from this year’s show was written by Wolfville resident Ross Chapman, along with former residents Simon Pawlowski and Gus Webb. Chapman says he and the two other local writers “came together to create three tales of the Big Bad Wolf, [telling] the hopefully misunderstood history of Wolfville in three parts, each musical and fun."
“Each part tells a different story of a wolf, and all tell the history of [the town],” he says.
The show will take place, as always, at the Wolfville Festival Theatre, with showtimes set for 7 p.m. on both Friday, Dec. 14 and Saturday, Dec. 15, along with a 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday.
Tickets are available for purchase at the Box of Delights and at the door. Prices are $15 for adults, $10 for students and there is a family rate of $40.