The Hudson Valley’s center for original plays continues to be Shadowland Stages, which for the holiday season will present a new production of Tom Dudzick’s wholehearted comedy “Miracle on South Division Street” from December 2 through December 18.
Written in 2009, “Miracle on South Division Street” is the story of the Nowak family, living amidst the urban rubble of Buffalo, New York’s East Side. The neighborhood may be depressed, but that can’t be said for Clara, the family matriarch. She happily runs her soup kitchen and tends to the family heirloom—a 20-foot shrine to the Blessed Mother that adjoins the house. This neighborhood beacon of faith commemorates the day in 1942 when the Blessed Virgin Mary materialized in her father’s barber shop. When the play opens, a family meeting is in progress. Daughter Ruth divulges her plan to finally “go public” with the family miracle by creating a one-woman play about the sacred event. But during the course of the meeting, the entire family’s faith is shaken to the very core when a deathbed confession causes the family legend to unravel with a heartfelt and hilarious twist.
“Miracle on South Division Street” will run December 2-18 (Fridays 7pm; Saturdays at 2pm and 7pm; Sundays at 2pm) at Shadowland Stages in Ellenville. (Saturday shows are for “vaxxed and masked” audience members only.) See website for ticket prices.