Characters and Synopsis

CAST BREAKDOWN: 6W, 7M with expandable ensemble

Rachel Rosenstein, a brainy, quirky 17-year-old Jewish girl
Harold Rosenstein, her father, a community leader who owns the local radio station
Linda Rosenstein, her mother, bound by social conventions but secretly a rebel
Ethan Rosenstein, her younger brother, a nice kid who wants to run with the bad boys
Darla, Rachel’s loyal, enthusiastic best friend
Mayor Robert “Bobby” Blackburn, always trying to live up to his dead father
Fred Weppler, Robert Bobby’s business partner and Harold’s friend, salt-of-the-earth
Ricky Weppler, his son, a juvenile delinquent with a sharp business sense
Joanie Weppler, Fred’s wife, the perfect hostess
Doubles as Nancy, Chrissy’s mom, frustrated director of the town Nativity play
Ensemble Woman 1
Chrissy, high school queen bee
Diane, an outspoken member of the Jewish community
Ensemble Woman 2
Rhonda, Chrissy’s worshipful sidekick
Carol, the temple’s thoughtful, quietly feminist religious school teacher
Ensemble Man 1
Emmett, used car salesman, sweet, but always a step behind
Marvin, a taciturn member of the Jewish community
Todd, Ricky’s anti-establishment cousin
Ensemble Man 2
Mr. Perkins, a gruff, prosperous beekeeper
Seymour, a pessimistic member of the Jewish community
Repairman

It’s December 1979, and the Rosensteins, one of eight Jewish families in Clarksville, West Virginia, head off to the Wepplers’ annual Christmas party. Seventeen-year-old Rachel looks forward to not feeling left out for a change, while her brother Ethan hopes to hang with super-cool Ricky Weppler. Mom Linda looks forward to socializing, but her introverted husband Harold insists on bringing a book. Playing Santa, Mayor Robert “Bobby” Blackburn announces his gift to the town: a new RadioShack, which will bring revenue and jobs. Everyone is thrilled, especially Harold, who owns the local radio station—until Fred Weppler lets slip that the mayor plans to tear down the temple to build the store.

While Rachel’s father grapples with the news, her Judaism-curious best friend Darla argues that brilliant Rachel should lead the charge to save the temple, like Judah Maccabee in the Hanukkah story. Rachel and Darla solicit donations from townspeople at the Christmas jamboree, convince Harold to appeal directly to the mayor, and send Linda on a reconnaissance mission to pump Fred Weppler’s wife Joanie for intel. Determined not to be shown up by his sister, Ethan, along with Ricky, hatches a misguided plan to steal the town wrecking trucks. Joanie tells Linda that the mayor is hiding the temple’s protected status as a historic landmark. When Rachel interrupts rehearsal for the annual Nativity play to confront the mayor about it, the power goes out.

Only the radio station has a generator, and as a blizzard roars in, Harold launches a last-ditch on-air plea to save the temple. Fred arrives to ask if the generator can power the town until the repair truck gets through. Harold is doubtful, but it works—at least temporarily. As the blizzard intensifies, the houses lose power over the week, coinciding with the nights of Hanukkah, until only the temple has electricity. Everyone shelters there, and when the lights come back on, the townspeople, awed by the building’s beauty, beg Robert “Bobby” not to tear it down. Moved by Harold’s generosity and the miracle of the radio station’s generator, Robert “Bobby” vows to keep the temple intact, even if it means no RadioShack. Inspired by this sacrifice, the local beekeeper, Mr. Perkins, offers a parcel of land for the RadioShack, which means building not just a store, but a regional distribution center. Rachel invites Robert “Bobby” to join her in lighting all eight candles of the menorah, and the whole town rejoices in their first celebration of an Appalachian Hanukkah.