Festival 56 box office opens for its expanded fall season

PRINCETON — The Festival 56 box office, located at the Grace Performing Arts Center, 316 S. Main St., Princeton, will reopen Tuesday in anticipation of its newly-expanded fall and winter season. The box office will be open from noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, offering reservations to its three upcoming productions. The festival is offering a special holiday three-pack to see all three shows for $66.

Opening on Nov. 6 and running through the Nov. 14 is “Same Time Next Year,” the winner of the 1975 Drama Desk Award. This play, which is also a movie starring Alan Alda and Ellen Burstyn, follows an adulterous couple who meet only one weekend each year over their 24-year relationship, helping each other through life’s challenges.

“Kindertransport” will run Nov. 20-28 and depicts the impact of war and forgiveness on children and families. This fall marks the 70th anniversary of the “kindertransport,” when in the fall of 1939, more than 10,000 Jewish children were smuggled out of Germany to live with families in England. Most of these children never saw their families again. This play examines how the children of the “kindertransport” were affected by the loss of their families and heritage.

“There’s a Christmas Tree in Terminal C!” is a light-hearted, family-friendly musical about a group of strangers who are stranded in an airport during a blackout on Christmas Eve and how they manage to find the spirit of Christmas in the most unlikely of places. The show features many of the most beloved holiday songs around like “Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer,” “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” and “O Holy Night”. This production will run Dec. 4-23.

Performances typically run Wednesday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Additional details are available at the festival Web site, www.festival56.com, or by calling the box office at (815) 879-5656.