PCHS’s theatre season opens with Broadway's family favorite, Annie, based upon the popular Harold Gray comic strip, Little Orphan Annie.  Running for nearly six years on Broadway, a record for the Neil Simon Theatre, the musical won three Tony Awards in 1977, including one for Best Musical.  The successful comic strip will come to life on the PC stage with such familiar characters as the billionaire Daddy Warbucks and his personal secretary Grace Farrell, the cruel Miss Hannigan, the shady con-artists Rooster and Lily, and the lovable Annie and her orphan friends.  Using energetic dance and upbeat show numbers, including "It's a Hard Knock Life," "Tomorrow," "N.Y.C." and "Easy Street," the popular family show has become a part of the nation's musical heritage.  The performance will be directed by Marlo Van Peursem with assistance from Tim Van Voorst (music) and Brenna Vogel (choreography). A special Dinner Theatre performance will be held again on the Saturday closing night and those tickets will include Back Stage Tours, a catered meal with the cast and choice center seating.  Production dates are October 29-31, 2009 with tickets going on sale October 19.

This spring, PC's Theatre Troupe will be presenting the stirring drama, The Miracle Worker, one of the most successful and warmly admired plays of the modern stage.  The story is set in 1887 and dramatizes the volatile relationship between the lonely teacher, Annie Sullivan, and her charge, Helen Keller--violent, spoiled, and trapped in her secret world, unable to see or hear.  Only Annie realizes the child's potential and was able to work a miracle: teaching Helen language.  A harsh father, a weak mother, a sarcastic half-brother and an intrusive aunt each bring their own story to the emotion-packed stage.  The powerful drama will be presented March 26-27, 2010 with tickets going on sale March 8.

PCHS’s Speech Team will perform the tender drama, Orphan Trains, for their Large Group one-act entry with the Iowa High School Speech Association. It is a touching story based on a widespread movement at the turn of the century to send the homeless and unwanted children of New York City west--by train across the United States and into midwestern towns--in search of caring homes willing to take in the abandoned children.  The staging creates a highly theatrical story, moving, amusing, and always tellingly human. The lonesome whistle wails as the train chugs between encounters of anxiety, laughter, wistfulness, rejection and acceptance.  District competition begins January 23 with a Home Benefit performance also held during Pella’s third annual City-Wide Speech Festival to be held this year again at Pella Christian High School on January 29, 2010.  For the last two years, PC's one acts have been selected as one of only eight schools across the State to perform at the All-State Festival on the campus of Iowa State University.  Pella Christian’s annual evening for the Individuals Speech Peer Review will be held February 25, 2010. Assisting Van Peursem with PC’s speech program is Helen Luhrs.

Pella Christian High School will close its theatre and speech season in May with a children's show that the high school drama class produces and takes 'on tour' to many of the elementary schools in the area.

According to theatre and speech director Marlo Van Peursem, the 2009-2010 season of Pella Christian's Theatre Troupe promises to be another ambitious year filled with a variety of dramatic styles and technical effects.  All of the performances will be held in the Vermeer Auditorium at Pella Christian High School, 300 Eagle Lane.