Christmas, Christmas books, Christmas Story - Cancel Christmas - Santa Claus, Bogwig and the Elves versus the Trolls, Sebastiani Theatre

History of Cancel Christmas

Sam Younghans, who has appeared in many theatrical productions, films and commercials, has been writing for many years. One of his stories was published in 2006 by New World Libraries, in a book called Angel Horses. Recently he was given an award for a story that will be published in September.

In 1975 Sam Younghans started a children’s acting class in order to have more time with his children, who were entering their teens. There were no charges for the classes, and about twenty or more children showed up every Saturday morning at the Sebastiani Theater in Sonoma, California. They were named, "The Mini-Players" and performed for many of the local organizations.

The Sebastiani Theater was built in 1933, by Samuel Sebastiani, who owned the local winery. The first live production in 1934, starred Edward G. Robinson. It was a beautiful theater, designed like the Fox theaters of that time. It seated 400, had a balcony, box seats, a proscenium arch and dressing rooms backstage. The movie screen could be flown, leaving a full stage; it was a delight to be there.

Sam was approached by the Director of the Boys’ and Girls’ Club of Sonoma, who asked him to write and produce a Halloween show for them. After the last Halloween show he asked Sam to produce a Christmas play. Rather than producing one of the old standards, Sam started writing Cancel Christmas and went into rehearsal with the Mini-Players before the second act was completed. He chose the title Cancel Christmas because of the note pinned on Santa’s door. It may sound negative at first, but people remember it.

Cancel Christmas was produced the following three years at the Sebastiani Theater. Throughout the years many other theater groups have produced it. It was produced in San Rafael by a dance group and in Petaluma by the local theater group. Paula Samonte wrote some very beautiful songs that have transformed the play into a mini musical with dancing. In 1982 a book was adapted from the play and published in 1996. The book Cancel Christmas has also been translated into Spanish.

1996 - Paula Samonte produced and directed the play in Ukiah, California. It was also produced at the Patio Playhouse in Escondido, California; directed by Torre Younghans, who played Bogwig in the original production. We received many great comments about the play from the children and their parents. This is a story/play for children of all ages

1999 - The play was produced at the Children’s Museum in San Diego, California.

2005 - The Huntington Beach Playhouse produced it at the Huntington Beach Library Theatre. It had good attendance and great response from the audience. Santa and Mrs. Santa were played by adults, the rest of the cast were mostly teens. Over fifty books were sold at the production.

2006 - Produced at the Eagle Rock High School in Los Angeles. Over 2,200 people attended and it was a delight to all. The entire cast were teens. They used a sixteen piece orchestra and a choral group of about 40 people. Over 75 books were sold at the production.

2007 - An illustrator, Cindi Valverde, has illustrated the book and it is planned for publication in 2009. You can see the illustrations and many photos from the many productions of Cancel Christmas on this site, www.bogwig.com.

A screen play has been written for animation. The Marion Wright Agency (WGA) is representing the author.

At the present time, we are getting queries from all over the country for scripts to produce the play.

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The Style of Cancel Christmas

The first draft of Cancel Christmas was written for children to perform for children, although later productions used older people for the main roles, and it was performed for adults as well as children. Cancel Christmas is for children of all ages. The performance was with the children, who had been in the writer's acting class. They were responsive, attentive and committed. They were in rehearsal while the second act was being written.

The response of the production was good and it was requested for the following year. At that point, the writer started revising and improving the script. Watching the many productions (produced in both Southern and Northern California.) helped mold the play - each successive year, revisions were added or items dropped.. The concept was to have a play that would emulate the Christmas spirit of the twenties, thirties and the forties. Those years were wonderful years for Christmas.

The songs and stories written during that era are timeless; the standards of today's Christmas. The writer wanted Cancel Christmas to be of that era. He wanted to bring out the love and caring of Santa, Mrs. Santa and the elves, in contrast with Bogwig and the evil trolls. There would be no toys that emulated violence or hate, no arguing or dissension among the elves. The elves wanted to help Santa, they followed Gribby, who was Santa's right hand man. There were no frowns, arguing or acts of frustration. Santa's works shop was a happy, warm, loving place. The elves were alive with excitement and energy; an example for the children.

For contrast, Bogwig and the trolls, were evil, argumentative, hateful and menacing. The chant "Bring Back the Bad" was written in the first draft - it shows the evil, with humor, in a melodramatic style. Audiences laugh and applaud it. At all productions the audience response was excellent.

Paula Samonte, who wrote many of the songs that, years later, were introduced into the play, helped with the first three years of the production in Sonoma, California. Paula is a professional singer and actress. She knew the flavor of the play, and wrote the songs with that in mind. The songs are repetitious, and simple with a familiar sound. This was done with the children in mind. The songs show the love and caring of Santa, Mrs. Santa and the elves. Because they are simple and familiar, children remember them. And, they will remember Cancel Christmas.

A Note to Directors:
As you know, each director has his own concepts and inspirations that are brought into the direction of a play. That is good, as long as the theme and feelings of the play as envisioned by the writer are not changed to the point of being a new and different play. That is the reason publishers set the rules, about revisions and cuts, and that is the reason I wrote this little introduction. If you enter into this production with the knowledge and goal of the play, any concepts or changes you bring in, should only help the play convey that feeling.

The writer has produced and directed Cancel Christmas numerous times, even played the role of Santa one season. He hopes the director will have an enjoyable production.