Dear Great Book Guru, I have seen flyers around town about a Christmas play written by Fred Stroppel being performed this Saturday. I am a bit of a Grinch and sentimental Christmas events are not high on my list of ways to spend the weekend. However, I have loved Fred's other works, so I am interested. Are you familiar with this play and, if so, would you recommend it? Holiday Grinch

Dear Grinch, THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT will be presented this Saturday evening at St. Luke's Church in Sea Cliff at 8pm and I strongly recommend it . Far from sentimental , this play deals with death and redempton in a darkly humorous manner. Julia Kennedy is a seventy-two year-old woman who finds herself sitting in her living room on Christmas Eve engaged in a fight for her life. The Christmas Spirit in the title is actually Death and he has come for Julia. She begs for more time and in exchange offers Death the chance to celebrate a family Christmas with all the trimmings. Her strange assortment of dysfunctional family members plus the local priest, some troubled young guests, and the Christmas Spirit- he calls himself Jack Frost- gather at Julia's invitation to celebrate the holiday. Life- altering secrets are revealed that offer hope …for a moment. Truth in advertising forces me to reveal that the Great Book Guru, after many years playing roles such as Macbeth's fourth witch, the silent Tropicana Girl, and Messenger #2, is the star of THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT. . The cast has a great time performing this play; let's hope the audience enjoys it too. Call 516-214-4240 for reservations.
For those of you who prefer the more traditional- what about a reading of an abridged version of THE CHRISTMAS CAROL ? A few years ago, Fred and Liz Stroppel- yes, the same Fred of THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT-presented a great version at Sea Cliff School- but you could do this in your own living room as we have done for many years. The version we use- Stephen Krensky's- takes about an hour to read. Get out the eggnog and gather your friend and family for a great evening!