THE KING HEROD PLAY synopsis

LOGLINE

All the world’s a stage when St. Nicholas is in the audience. 

PITCH

When 11-year-old Lena Nowak fears she hasn’t been good enough to receive Christmas presents, she decides to put on a King Herod Play for St. Nicholas. While crafting the stage and puppets for the play, she runs out of glue on Christmas Eve with no way to buy more from a craft shop until after the holidays. She tries to use honey and icing to finish her puppets. As St. Nicholas arrives with his angel helper, the first thing he does is give Lena a jar of glue to finish her work. She is so excited and puts the play on to great success. St. Nicholas promises to return for her annual plays celebrating Christmas.

SYNOPSIS

On Christmas Eve morning, Lena Nowak worries if she has been good enough to receive gifts from St. Nicholas. The 11-year-old girl in Bolków, Poland wonders if she had fibbed too much or not worked hard enough in school. At last minute, she decides to put on a King Herod Play for St. Nicholas and his angel helper. All day, Lena works to make hand puppets for all the characters of the traditional King Herod Play, a Christmas folk play. Although her grandmother is always in charge of the King Herod Play, she tells her mother that she wants to put on the play with her puppets in case St. Nicholas comes in person. She polished her shoes to leave them by the Christmas tree with high hopes for gifts. Then, all day, Lena works on painting and gluing puppets. She starts with the wicked King Herod, who caused the killing of boy infants in Bethlehem when he heard that a child would be born as Messiah. Other characters in the play include Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, an angel, a soldier, a village man and his wife, a cavalryman with his horse, a Field Marshal, the Devil, Death, and gravediggers.

 

As Lena’s father watches her make a small stage in their house, she jokes with her father that “the Herods are coming tonight.” He sets up chairs for everyone in the family, so they can enjoy her play after Wigilia, the Polish Christmas Eve dinner with twelve dishes to commemorate the Twelve Apostles. As she runs out of glue, there is no way to get more from the store on Christmas Eve. Her mom tells her not to worry, but it’s only glue and that St. Nicholas will love her puppets anyhow. She does the best she can and tries to use honey and icing to finish her puppets. Then, her family, friends, and neighbors gather for the Christmas celebration. By the time Christmas Eve dinner is finished, there is a sudden knock on the door, and the children cheer: “He has come!”

 

St. Nicholas walks past everyone else in the home straight to Lena with his filled sack. His angel helper with wings and golden robe stands by the door with more gifts. He waits for the perfect moment to give everyone their reward. Then, St. Nicholas hands Lena a new jar of glue, and she is elated. While Nicholas hands out the rest of the gifts, he tells Lena that she can finish her puppets, so that they can enjoy her production. She throws her arms around him with a hug. By the time everyone else has received their gifts, Lena has finished gluing the last touches of her puppets and stage. She invites St. Nicholas to sit in the front with his angel. The tenderness of the Christmas drama from the heart of the child warms everyone in the room, including St. Nick. St. Nicholas promises to return for her upcoming plays. Until next time, Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia or Merry Christmas!

    

Copyright 2022 Jennifer Waters

CHRISTMAS COOKIE synopsis

LOGLINE

Two are better than one during the holidays. 

PITCH

When Cookie Roberts and Ernest Plum skate on ice, magic happens. Ernest has been in love with Cookie for years, and she has never agreed to marry him, despite his devotion. After he finally quits being her ice-skating partner, and she can’t find anyone who brings the same magic, he asks her one last time to be his partner, and she says yes. 

SYNOPSIS

Each Christmas Eve, the Rockefeller Center Skaters put on a spectacular ice show at the Rink at Rockefeller Center. Only steps from Times Square and the Broadway Theater District, visitors gather all month long for skating lessons until the 24^th of December. Then, tourists and locals in New York City gather on the plaza beside the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree to enjoy the annual Christmas Eve skating event. This year, Cookie Roberts and Ernest Plum are the featured skaters in the festivities. However, the duo doesn’t always get along as one might expect, mostly due to Ernest’s unrequited love for Cookie. When Cookie sprains her foot, Ernest carries her to the emergency room. He is afraid she might have broken it. So glad that she did not break it, Ernest suggests taking Cookie out for dancing on New Year’s Eve. Cookie asks him to give up his romantic gestures and says they have a business relationship as ice-skating partners—that’s it. So, he quits. 

 

The next morning, Cookie returns to the Rink at Rockefeller Center. She explains to her coach that she injured her foot, but it will be better for the Christmas Eve performance. She also explains that Ernest quit being her partner. The coach says she’ll have to skate with Roy. 

 

By Christmas Eve, Cookie and Roy dazzle New York City in their white jump suits with silver sparkles. However, the performance has less heart and soul than when Cookie skates with Ernest. More than once, she almost falls. When she looks up, she sees Ernest watching her from the plaza. Before leaving the ice rink, Roy shakes Cookie’s hand and runs to meet his wife and son. After spending Christmas Day with her parents in Upper Manhattan, she spends the rest of the holiday watching Christmas movies and baking cookies. This year, unlike the past several years, she receives no gifts from Ernest. Sad about facing the New Year alone, she sulks in the bathtub. Then, on New Year’s Eve, she hears Ernest calling her with a knock at the door. Cookie opens the door, and Ernest apologizes and asks her again to be his partner. Ernest kisses her, and she promises to give him a chance. The duo goes on to spend many years together on and off the ice as a great team. 

Copyright 2022 Jennifer Waters

THE CHRISTMAS GOOSE synopsis

LOGLINE

When Christmas is coming, an old British man who collects pennies in his hat—with the help of an angelic woman with long, golden hair and a trail of diamonds—brings surprises to a sickly neighbor boy and his father.

PITCH

All because an old man with a hat asks for pennies on the street corner by London's Tower Bridge during Christmas, a small goose saves the life of a sickly little boy, and an angel with diamonds helps them do so. Secretly, the goose even lays golden eggs, a miracle that no one understands, but receives gratefully. 

SYNOPSIS

An old man from a street corner near London’s Tower Bridge belts out Christmas carols and collects coins in his hat as charity for his neighbors. Several passersby drop coins into his hat. Then, a beautiful woman with a glowing face and long, golden hair empties coins in his hat. A trail of gem-like snow that looks like diamonds seems to follow her as she walks, and the gems blows in the wind. Although the old man has no family, he is more concerned for his neighbors than he is about himself. The father of the family next door has been out of work for more than six months, as he watches over his sickly son. The mother had passed away from tuberculosis a few years ago during a very hard winter, and the boy has lost hope. So, the old man has decided that a toy soldier and trumpet are not enough to give the child this year—there must also be a Christmas goose.

 

Then, the old man grabs his coat and top hat and goes to Christmas Eve service at All Souls Church in Langham Place. The church towers next to the British Broadcasting Corporation, which had played Christmas carols on the radio all day. After the service, the old man spots his neighbors a few pews in front of him, and they look less than festive. Placing his hat on the young boy’s head, he tells him that early Christmas morning he will visit them with surprises. The old man sits in the pew for a bit and admires the sanctuary decorated with holly, candles, and garland. As he sits in the pew, the church empties—all except for the beautiful woman with long, golden hair and diamond jewels. Then she sits down next to him in the pew. She tells him that his generosity will save the boy’s life, and he will not leave his father alone at Christmas for the years to come. She says that the old man’s hat will protect him from the blistering winter wind, and the gift of the Christmas goose will be his new best friend. Even in the church, gem-like diamonds follow her. 

 

The next morning, the old man wakes up with the sunrise and prepares a large goose for Christmas dinner. Then, he shoves him in the oven and seasons him. However, he wraps a bright red bow on the other golden goose as a pet for the neighbor boy and grabs the other gifts for him. The neighbor boy opens the door wearing the old man’s hat. As the goose waddles into the neighbor’s house, the deathly ill little boy throws his arms around him. Then, the old man looks out the window and spies the beautiful woman from the church as she walks down the street in a trail of sparkling snow that resembles perfect diamonds. The wind blows the diamonds toward the old man. He catches them in his hand. At first, he thought they were icicles but puts them in his jacket pocket with a prayer of thanksgiving. In the weeks ahead that pass, the Christmas Goose and the little boy become such good friends that the little boy never feels sick again. The Goose lays dozens of goose eggs. And as legend has it, when no one is looking, the goose even lays golden eggs. As for the diamonds, they turn out to be real, and only an angel would know how that happened. 

Copyright 2022 Jennifer Waters

SWEDISH CHRISTMAS DANCE synopsis

LOGLINE

Prancer the Reindeer loses his way on Christmas Eve only to be found by the light. 

PITCH

When Prancer the Reindeer gets lost, a 12-year-old girl named Lucia Johansson takes him in on Christmas Eve. While waiting for Father Christmas to find Prancer, the Johansson family dance and sing in celebration until they doubt that their Christmas gifts will ever arrive. In the wee hours of the morning when Father Christmas finds Prancer, he rewards Lucia for taking in a stranger to make sure Christmas is never late again. 

SYNOPSIS

Prancer the reindeer hits a star, falls to the ground, and ends up in Sweden on Christmas Eve in the snow. Confused, he stands up, almost losing his balance, and kicks the snow. He wanders into the nearest village and feels like a failure. He hopes Father Christmas comes back for him. He can’t be sure at all which way Father Christmas went or where the sleigh is now. As Prancer walks through the village, he admires Christmas trees decorated with white candles and silver ornaments that catch the starlight. Then, Lucia Johansson, a 12-year-old girl, notices the reindeer while looking for Father Christmas in the sky. Her family is holding a Christmas Eve party, but she runs out in the snow in a white dress with a red sash around her waist to greet the deer. A crown of candles sits on her head in a wreath of Lingonberry branches. She thinks that Father Christmas sent the reindeer. Then, she gently touches his nose and examines his antlers, which seem large enough to enable him to fly. Prancer explains that he got separated from Father Christmas and his sleigh. Although she is startled that he can speak, Lucia invites him to spend the holiday with her family. 

 

Lucia’s father wonders what a reindeer is doing in their home but allows him to join the party since it’s Christmas. Her mother thinks that the neighbors must have sent him for holiday fun. All of a sudden, Lucia’s extended family join hands while thumping their feet and start a ring dance, holding a lighted candle. The dancers sing. Prancer and Lucia go ‘round and ‘round the table and down the halls of the house. Prancer and Lucia trot through each room and up and down each staircase. Lucia kisses Prancer on the cheek and wishes he would never leave her. Although Prancer thinks he messed everything up for Father Christmas, Lucia suggests watching out the window for him on his sleigh. 

 

As Christmas Eve goes on, the guests from her parents’ party leave. Then, Lucia’s family exchanges gifts and eats Christmas cookies and rice dessert. Although the family waits, Father Christmas never arrives with gifts. Lucia’s mother, father, and three sisters sit with Prancer at the tree. After Lucia’s parents and sisters go to sleep in their bedrooms, Lucia snuggles up with Prancer. Then, early in the morning, when it seems that Father Christmas will never complete his rounds on Christmas Eve, there is a thud in front of Lucia’s house, and several whinnies and a large, red glowing reindeer light. Father Christmas knocks on the front door with a sack of gifts. Although Father Christmas has seven other reindeer, he says that he had to go after the lost Prancer until he found him. He flew all night and didn’t forget Prancer. As the story goes, Prancer makes sure to be especially alert when flying on Christmas Eve and never gets lost again. 

Copyright 2022 Jennifer Waters

YULETIDE THE CHRISTMAS GOAT synopsis

LOGLINE

When witches harass Father Christmas by threatening to steal children and their gifts on Christmas Eve, a goat braves a mountain to find a magic yule log. 

PITCH

Yuletide the Christmas Goat travels to the peak of Vestfjellet Mountain to search for the Magic Yule Log that can defeat the witches attacking twelve-year-old Ingrid Danielsen and her Norwegian village. As Ingrid and her parents fight back the witches, they wait for the Christmas Goat to return with the Yule Log that must burn in their fireplace by midnight on Christmas Eve, so the evil witches lose their power and Father Christmas can visit the village with presents for the children.

SYNOPSIS

Twelve-year-old Ingrid Danielsen is worried about Griselda, Queen of the Sky Brooms, and her witches in the Norwegian village of Vestfold. Her friend Yuletide the Christmas Goat knows the witches like to harass Father Christmas at Christmas and threaten to steal the children and their presents. Although the witches have bullied the children before, they have never succeeded in actually kidnapping anyone until now. Ingrid watches a witch fly down, grab three of her cousins who are caroling, and fling them on her broom. 

 

Finally safe, inside her family’s cottage, Ingrid suggests to Yuletide that they could clog the chimney so the witches can’t fly down into her home. The witches are more determined than ever to undermine Julenissen and his Nisse, also known as Santa Claus and his gnomes. Then, Yuletide meanders to a large book on the side shelf and flips it open with his nose and points to a map. It reads: “There’s a Magic Yule Log, hidden on the peak of Vestfjellet Mountain, which is strong enough to destroy the power of the witches.” Ingrid insists that they find the Yule Log and burn it in her parents’ fireplace, but it must be burned on Christmas Eve, not one second past midnight. So, Ingrid and Yuletide have twelve hours to succeed. 

 

Despite her enthusiasm, Yuletide insists that Ingrid isn’t going in search of the Yule Log—he is. In the meantime, Ingrid huddles by the fireplace and builds a large fire with the regular logs, twigs, and even kitchen chairs. While Ingrid and her parents fight back Queen Griselda and her spells for hours, Ingrid hopes for Yuletide’s quick return. The clock on the wall tick-tocks closer and closer to midnight when the Magic Yule Log will no longer be effective. Just when Ingrid wants to give up fighting Griselda, Yuletide stumbles in the front door with the glowing Magic Yule Log. The goat’s knees are scratched and bloody, and he hobbles through the front door as though he might collapse at any moment.

 

Ingrid runs to him in tears, grabs the Magic Yule Log, and throws it into the fireplace. It causes a huge explosion to shoot from the chimney that stretches over the village and scatters Griselda and her witches. The kidnapped children riding with the witches fall from the brooms and magically land feet-first in the snow. At that, Ingrid’s family falls asleep by the fireplace with Yuletide, and Father Christmas makes his visit in the snow with presents, because a goat decided that he would go on a journey to save his best friend.

Copyright 2022 Jennifer Waters

WINTER MASQUERADING synopsis

LOGLINE

No one wears a mask at Christmas, especially when waltzing. 

PITCH

When Margaret Bayard’s father wants her to marry someone other than her longtime love, James Miller, he sends her to the Christmas Masquerade Ball at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City. After James proposes to Margaret, she hides it from her father until the Ball is over, where her father suggests that she marry the mysterious cadet that dances with her. Later in the evening, the cadet reveals that he was James all along, only behind a mask.  

SYNOPSIS

Margaret Bayard’s father wants to know if she has her dress for the Christmas Masquerade Ball. Mr. Bayard, a former United States Senator, has put marrying his daughter to an upstanding man on the top of his Christmas wish list. Margaret, 21, makes it very clear that she’s already in love with her childhood friend James Miller. She doesn’t want to be presented to high society at Christmas by her father. If she has to attend, then at the very least she can wear a mask. James, a law student, was also in the marines, and Margaret is sure he could be a Senator one day. She picks up the golden invitation to the Christmas Masquerade Ball and puts it in her purse. Not only will the event be held in the Grand Ballroom at the Waldorf Astoria on Fifth Avenue, but there will also be a week of parties leading to the Christmas Eve Ball. She will be escorted by one military cadet and one civilian, but neither of her choice. Despite all, Margaret tells her father that she will go to the Ball, only to prove him wrong, because she thinks that she and James are meant to be together. Her father hopes that by the end of the evening that she is engaged to someone else. 

 

When Margaret arrives in Central Park to meet James, she finds him as it starts to snow. He kisses her, and the couple climbs in a carriage for a ride. Jingle bells jostle as the stately brown horse pulls the carriage through the winding trails of Central Park. Then, James pulls a small red box from his pocket and asks her to marry him. The heart-shaped diamond glistens in the winter sunshine. After saying “yes,” Margaret slips the ring on her left hand and puts the ring box in her purse. She asks James to not tell her father until after Christmas. When a large gust of wind blows, the invitation to the Christmas Masquerade Ball blows from her purse onto the sidewalk. James picks it up and shoves it in his pocket. She is so enamored with her ring that she can hardly speak, but she hides it from her father. She tells James that she is going to the Christmas Masquerade Ball only to please her father, but that she is only interested in him and no one else. 

 

As Margaret arrives in a limo at the Waldorf Astoria, the men turn their heads at her astonishing beauty. When she enters the Grand Ballroom, she is escorted by two masked gentlemen: one military cadet and one civilian. During the dance with the cadet, Margaret wishes she was dancing with James. Near the end of the Ball, the cadet bows to Margaret, but never reveals his true identity. Margaret takes off her mask and gives it to him. He leaves without giving her his mask. Margaret’s father steps from the shadows and suggests that she marry the cadet, not James, as the cadet runs off with her mask. Returning home, she finds James, sitting in a cadet white formal uniform on the bench at the front door. He holds her mask from the Ball. He also holds the mask of the cadet that she had danced with during the evening. James explains that the cadet was him all along. Her father finds them in the hallway kissing, gives up, and blesses her in marriage to James. By Christmas next year, Margaret and James are married, and they dance the Waltz in every spare moment. 

Copyright 2022 Jennifer Waters 

HERE WE COME A-CAROLING synopsis

LOGLINE

At Christmas, a young girl with stamps decides to be a citizen of the world.

PITCH

Until twelve-year-old Madison Clark can travel the world, she goes Christmas caroling through the postal mail. When the United States Post Office runs low on stamps, she borrows stamps from the neighbors to send her pen pal letters in time for Christmas. Then, on Christmas Day, she sings carols in her neighborhood, taking pictures for her next pen pal letters, determined to be a global citizen. 

SYNOPSIS

Madison Clark, 12, from San Francisco, loves to write pen pal letters, especially at Christmas. This year, she decides her pen pal club is going to sing the Christmas carol, “Here We Come A-Caroling,” simultaneously, regardless of our time zone. Despite her enthusiasm for letter writing, her mother is concerned that she studies for her upcoming World Studies test. Madison assures her mother that she will get a good grade on the test. She writes her Christmas pen pal letter and copies it seven times – once for each pen pal. Then she folds her Christmas notes three ways and slips them into their envelopes. Madison licks the envelopes shut and says asks her mother to take her to the post office for stamps if she studies for a half-an-hour straight for her test. The deadline to send the letters so that they arrive before Christmas is that night.

 

When Madison is sure she studied enough to get an “A” on her World Studies test, she hops in the car with her mother to go to United States Post Office and gets in line. Usually, the line only has a few people, but that day it extends all the way around the corner into the parking lot. By the time Madison reaches the front of the line, the post office worker slides out a sign that says: “CLOSED.” Mr. Green, the postal worker, tells her that they are out of stamps and to come back tomorrow. If her letters must go out today, he tells her to find some stamps somewhere and put the cards in the blue mailbox outside by six o’clock. She is so upset that she wants to sing “Here We Come A-Caroling” in protest. Madison runs home to collect stamps from her neighbors. She knocks on one door after another in the neighborhood, but no one answers. She cries on the curb and kicks the stones.  

 

Finally, Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, a kind elderly couple in the neighborhood, stop to talk to Madison in their car when they see her crying. Mr. Thompson gives Madison the stamps that he bought at the post office earlier in the day. Then, Mr. and Mrs. Thompson rush Madison to the blue mailbox outside the post office, and Madison slips her seven envelopes into the mail slot as the postal worker collects the last letters for the day. On Christmas Day, Mrs. Clark accompanies Madison to each home in the neighborhood and takes pictures as her daughter sings “Here We Come A-Caroling.” No one sings louder with Madison than Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, who are thrilled their pictures will accompany her next pen pal letters. When Madison receives her return pen pal letters in January, she displays all new photos of her pen pals completing the singing challenge she suggested her in her Christmas letter. She places the photos beneath the glass on her bedroom desk, and her world grows bigger and bigger. Christmas has been celebrated a little bit more all around the world, just because Madison insisted on sending out her letters on time!

Copyright 2022 Jennifer Waters