October 30, 2023 – Audiences at “Holiday at Santa Fe” will delight as Perry the Beach Mouse learns to believe in himself after journeying through a forest with Santa Claus and learning what makes snow in a winter wonderland. Performances are at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023, in the Jackson N. Sasser Fine Arts Hall at Santa Fe College’s (SF) Northwest Campus, 3000 NW 83 Street, Gainesville.
Tickets are $15 for adults; $9 for seniors, students, and military service members; and free to children 12 and under and to SF students, faculty and staff with SFID cards. Free tickets to the SF Teaching Zoo and Kika Silva Pla Planetarium will be included in the performance programs. Tickets are available from the Fine Arts Hall box office at 352-395-4181 or online from Showpass at showpass.com/holiday-at-santa-fe-2.
Santa Fe College Performing Arts students, children in the SF Little School, staff of the SF Teaching Zoo and the Kika Silva Pla Planetarium will collaborate to bring this gift of holiday magic to the community. Following the performances, people can take photographs with Santa in the dance studio, meet zoo animals in the lobby and have fun with interactive activities offered by the Planetarium and the Little School.
“We’re very proud of these collaborations that can entertain people and, at the same time, introduce them to the great programs that the college offers,” said SF Assistant Professor of Dance Melissa Brenner, who is directing “Holiday at Santa Fe.”
Perry the Beach Mouse is the star of the show but he suffers from a bad self-concept. He sees himself as little and unimportant. After he meets Santa Claus, Santa introduces Perry to different animals in the forest. Set to popular themes from “The Nutcracker,” students from the Dance Theatre of Santa Fe and actors from SF’s Theatre program portray the forest animals and explain why each of them is important.
With Perry still not convinced of his own power, Santa asks, “Would you believe me if I made it snow?” James Albury, director of SF’s Kika Silva Pla Planetarium, then gives Perry a science lesson that includes students from the college’s Little School dancing to Frank Sinatra’s version of “Fly Me to the Moon.” As snow falls, Perry realizes he can believe in himself.
“The story of Perry the Mouse and the story of this collaborative production show us that if we work together, even the small things we do can make big differences,” Brenner explained.
“Holiday at Santa Fe” is sponsored and organized by the Santa Fe College Fine Arts and Entertainment Technology Department in collaboration with SF’s Teaching Zoo, Kika Silva Pla Planetarium and Little School, and funded in part by Visit Gainesville, Alachua County.
For information about “Holiday at Santa Fe,” call Brenner at 352-395-4194. For information about tickets, call the box office at 352-395-4181.