Raise the lantern

Mystic Seaport begins its run of Lantern Light Tours

A new year, a fresh script: that's part of the ever-shifting appeal of Mystic Seaport's annual Lantern Light Tours.

And these stories often take a bit of inspiration from holiday classics. The 2014 tours referenced "The Twelve Days of Christmas," and 2013's had echoes of "A Christmas Carol."

The plotline for the 36th annual tours, which begin Friday, reflect aspects of the Nativity.

It focuses on a young couple named Joseph and Virginia Sawyer, who have come to Mystic on Christmas Eve in 1876 to register for the vote, says program manager Denise Kegler. When they can't find a place to stay, they end up in a local business, where Virginia gives birth.

Drama comes from another source, too. A villain lurks — he's Mr. King, who is searching for the Sawyers because they have an inheritance coming to their newborn son. King has designs on that inheritance for himself.

The production is a new version of a 2010 script penned by Craig Edwards, who is one Mystic Seaport's chanteymen. The script, though, has undergone some significant edits, so it's quite a bit different from the last time it was performed, Kegler says.

"There are some slightly darker elements, and we wanted to reduce that to bring back the cheerful Christmas element to the show," she says. Kegler, who became the producer-director of the Lantern Light Tours starting in 2012, says, "We've been aiming more toward a theatricality in the production. In the case of this script, (we're) going more from a monologue format to a dialogue format so it feels more like a traditional play."

The Lantern Light Tours are progressive plays, meaning the audience moves from site to site, with different scenes played out at each of six locations (this year, one of the scenes takes place on a horse-and-carriage ride). Two tours run at the same time, with two versions of the same production allowing more people to see the show.

Kegler used to act in the tours from 2007 to 2010.

"It is a wonderful theatrical challenge," she says. "It's a five- to eight-minute scene where it's repeated up to 20 times during the night, so it's just very different from a traditional play."

And actors get to play to some ardent audiences. A number of families make the Lantern Light Tours part of their Christmas traditions. Kegler recalls one family whose members were Lantern Light regulars appeared bedecked in giant lighted elf hats.

"They were just so ready to have a good time. They were a great audience," she says.

Developing these tours each year is not a quick or superficial process. Usually, sometime in January or February, the members of the production team — Kegler, the co-director, the head costumer, and the stage manager — gather for what they call a wrap meeting. They review what they thought worked in the previous year's production and what didn't.

They begin brainstorming script ideas. The actual script selection usually happens in May or June. The writing often continues through September, with the piece undergoing three edits.

Auditions start in September, and then rehearsals run for about six weeks beginning in mid-October.

Each year's cast — which this year consists of 50 participants — is a mix of some performers who are Lantern Light veterans and some who are new to the production.

"We have a number of actors who have been performing with us for five, 10, 20, even up to 30 years, which is amazing to have that sort of longevity in our performance staff, our actors," Kegler says. But, she adds, she also looks to bring "new people in. That is something I really like to do."

As for the production as a whole, Kegler says she aims for "a good balance of humor, general Christmas cheer and a small amount of sentiment so that the audience has that warm-hearted feeling when they're leaving."

Lantern Light Tours, Mystic Seaport, Route 27; Fridays and Saturdays through Dec. 19, as well as Sunday, Dec. 20; tours begin at 5 p.m. and leave every 15 minutes; $32 adults ($26 seaport members), $25 ages 5-17 ($19 for youth members); not recommended for kids under 4; (860) 572-5331, mysticseaport.org.