Performance Network, in collaboration with Eastern Michigan University, will be presenting Striking 12 on December 31st at 9pm to celebrate the new year. Striking 12, a holiday musical that the New York Times has called “more artfully crafted and engaging than virtually all the standard-mold musicals coming our way these days,” is a concert-with-a-story that is inspired by Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Match Girl. This New Year’s Eve show brings a healthy dose of old-fashioned uplift, blended with a pinch of 21st-century skepticism to tell the tale of a grumpy, overworked New Yorker whose resolve to spend New Year’s Eve alone crumbles when an unexpected visitor brings some much-needed cheer.
Striking 12 is a fantastic way to spend the new year at the theatre! Before you arrive, here is a chance to familiarize yourself with the The Little Match Girl story so that you can enjoy the production from an extra dimension.
The Little Match Girl was first published in 1845 and is a story about a dying child’s dreams and hopes. On a cold New Year’s Eve, a poor girl tries to sell matches in the street. She is freezing badly, but she is afraid to go home because her father will beat her for not selling any matches. She takes shelter in a nook and lights the matches to warm herself. In their glow, she sees several lovely visions, including a Christmas tree and a holiday feast. The girl looks skyward and sees a shooting star, then she remembers her dead grandmother saying that such a falling star means someone has died and is going into Heaven. As she lights the next match, she sees a vision of her grandmother, the only person to have treated her with love and kindness. She strikes one match after another to keep the vision of her grandmother alive for as long as she can. Once the child runs out of matches, she dies and her grandmother carries her soul to Heaven. The next morning, passers-by find the child dead in the nook and take pity on her, not knowing that she is now with her grandmother and is in a place where she will never be cold or hungry ever again.
In 2006, Disney created a touching animated short of the The Little Match Girl story. Click here to watch it!
Striking 12 is just as rich of a musical as Anderson’s story. The New York Times review applauds it for having “lyrics…alive with wit and humor, and [it doesn’t] shy away from surging emotion either.” If you would like a sneak peek at the amazing music that you will be hearing in PNT’s theatre on December 31st at 9pm, you can listen to the soundtrack on the creators of Striking 12’s BandCamp website! Click here to listen!
But don’t be content to just sit at home listening to recorded music or YouTube videos. You can join us for the staged reading of the Striking 12 musical on December 31st at 9pm! Tickets are $50 for the show and champagne reception, and $35 for students and seniors. For those under 21, tickets are $25! Tickets can be reserved online or by calling (734) 663-0681.
Performance Network Theatre: Ann Arbor's Premier Professional Theatre 