"It's summer time and the Bunyan County Fair is approaching, the biggest thing that's happened in Bunyan Bay since the winter carnival snowplow parade! This year the Bunyan County Fair means one thing to Gunner and Clara Johnson, owners of a little bar called The Bunyan: The Miss Walleye Queen Competition. Bernice, the pretty waitress, sees this as her big chance to win Miss Walleye Queen. to be discovered and, more important, to have her face in carved in butter at the Minnesota State Fair. The stakes have never been higher in Bunyan Bay. The trouble begins when Gunner's wife, Clara, decides she also wants to win Miss Walleye Queen. Bigger trouble arrives when Gunner's estranged twin sister, Trigger (played by Gunner) shows up to try to win the beauty pageant. Things get ugly! Phil Olson writes in the Author's Notes that this is his fifth play (third musical) about the emotionally conservative nature of Scandinavians and their reluctance to hug or show affection"--P. 4 of cover.

A timeless, utterly charming Christmas fable, beautifully illustrated and destined to become a classic When Paul Auster was asked by The New York Times to write a Christmas story for the Op-Ed page, the result, "Auggie Wren's Christmas Story," led to Auster's collaboration on a film adaptation, Smoke. Now the story has found yet another life in this enchanting illustrated edition with Argentine artist Isol. It begins with a writer's dilemma: he's been asked by The New York Times to write a story that will appear in the paper on Christmas morning. The writer agrees, but he has a problem: How to write an unsentimental Christmas story? He unburdens himself to his friend at his local cigar shop, a colorful character named Auggie Wren. "A Christmas story? Is that all?" Auggie counters. "If you buy me lunch, my friend, I'll tell you the best Christmas story you ever heard. And I guarantee every word of it is true." And an unconventional story it is, involving a lost wallet, a blind woman, and a Christmas dinner. Everything gets turned upside down. What's stealing? What's giving? What's a lie? What's the truth? It's vintage Auster, and pure pleasure: a truly unsentimental but completely affecting tale.

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A classic tale for modern times from a beloved storyteller, John Grisham offers a hilarious look at the chaos and frenzy that have become part of our holiday tradition. Imagine a year without Christmas. No crowded malls, no corny office parties, no fruitcakes, no unwanted presents. That’s just what Luther and Nora Krank have in mind when they decide that, just this once, they’ll skip the holiday altogether. Theirs will be the only house on Hemlock Street without a rooftop Frosty, they won’t be hosting their annual Christmas Eve bash, they aren’t even going to have a tree. They won’t need one, because come December 25 they’re setting sail on a Caribbean cruise. But as this weary couple is about to discover, skipping Christmas brings enormous consequences—and isn’t half as easy as they’d imagined. Don’t miss John Grisham’s new book, THE EXCHANGE: AFTER THE FIRM!

Category: Musical Comedy Characters: 3 males, 2 females Scenery: Interior The story takes place in Bunyan Bay, Minnesota, in a little bar called "The Bunyan," owned by Clara and Gunner Johnson. Clara is 81/2 months pregnant with their first child, and today she's looking forward to her baby shower, getting lots of presents, and taking a break from her raging hormones. Suddenly, a freak snow storm, a "tsnownami," hits Bunyan Bay and they find themselves snowed in. All roads are closed. No one can get in or leave. Gunner's worst nightmare comes true when Clara goes into labor and he realizes he's going to have to deliver the baby in the bar. Featuring 17 original songs including, "Babies and Beer," "If I Only Had a Boy," "Bun in the Oven," "Baby Fever," "The 'Just Got Hosed Over by a Dork' Blues," and "If Men Had Babies, We'd All Be Extinct." Don't Hug Me, I'm Pregnant is the fourth in the smash hit Don't Hug Me series of musical comedies. The others include Don't Hug Me, A Don't Hug Me Christmas Carol, and A Don't Hug Me County Fair, also available from Samuel French The Don't Hug Me musicals are all stand alone musicals. You do not have to see them in any particular order to fully enjoy them. Critic's Pick "Go one, go all to Don't Hug Me, I'm Pregnant The show is guaranteed to please, and has big hit written all over it " - BroadwayWorld.com "GO " "Think Rowan and Martin's Laugh In on steroids " - LA WEEKLY RECOMMENDED "With hilarious lines and 17 uproarious songs, Don't Hug Me, I'm Pregnant is a laugh a minute, maybe more ...The Olson Brothers, Phil and Paul have done it again, given us a play that keeps us laughing throughout " - ReviewPlays.com RECOMMENDED "You will find yourself literally laughing out loud at the antics of Gunner, Clara, Kanute, Bernice and Aarvid, and having them bring a bundle of joy into the world is a good thing " - Topanga Messenger ENJOY "Wonderful characters, new terrific original songs, great choreography and belly filled laughs ...Hysterically funny ...The audience roars with laughter ...Extraordinarily great fun ...For those of you that love silly, funny and entertaining evenings out, this is for you ...Come out and enjoy " - NoHoArtsdistrict.com "If you're up for a break from the woes of the world, and ready to laugh until your cheeks hurt, this is the one to catch ...Guttbustingly funny, the nonstop audience laughter was thunderous ...If you're already a Don't Hug Me fan, I know you'll catch this one too. If you've never seen any of the others, it's high time you did Book a seat today " - Tolucan Times "The biggest compliment you can pay a musical comedy is that it is funny...Don't Hug Me, I'm Pregnant is that and so much more...The writing is crisp, intelligent and doesn't miss a beat...proves vastly entertaining and provides a depth uncommon in theatrical comedies and musicals...hilarious yet tender...it touches the funny and musical bones " - North Hollywood-Toluca Lake Patch

Don't Hug Me, We're Married takes place in a small north woods bar in Bunyan Bay, Minnesota. Gunner and Clara Johnson are owners of the bar, they've been married "a long time," the romance has left the marriage, and Clara would like to get it back. When Gunner finds a pamphlet that Clara was hiding for "Divorce Fantasy Camp," he realizes he needs to do something to convince his wife he's a good husband. At the same time, Bernice, the pretty waitress, gets engaged to Aarvid, a karaoke sale

The show is a fund raiser put on by the Little Sisters of Hoboken to raise money to bury sisters accidently poisoned by the convent cook, Sister Julia (Child of God). -- Publisher's description.

All that Dora Riley wants is her husband home safe for Christmas... The Nightingale Hospital, London, 1944: With her husband Nick away fighting, Dora struggles to keep the home fires burning and is put in charge of a ward full of German prisoners of war. Can she find it in her heart to care for her enemies? Fellow nurse Kitty thinks she might be falling for a German soldier, whilst Dora’s old friend Helen returns from Europe with a dark secret. Can the women overcome their prejudices and the troubles of their past to do their duty for their country?

A beloved, bestselling classic of humorous and nostalgic Americana—the book that inspired the equally classic Yuletide film and the live musical on Fox. The holiday film A Christmas Story, first released in 1983, has become a bona fide Christmas perennial, gaining in stature and fame with each succeeding year. Its affectionate, wacky, and wryly realistic portrayal of an American family’s typical Christmas joys and travails in small-town Depression-era Indiana has entered our imagination and our hearts with a force equal to It’s a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street. This edition of A Christmas Story gathers together in one hilarious volume the gems of autobiographical humor that Jean Shepherd drew upon to create this enduring film. Here is young Ralphie Parker’s shocking discovery that his decoder ring is really a device to promote Ovaltine; his mother and father’s pitched battle over the fate of a lascivious leg lamp; the unleashed and unnerving savagery of Ralphie’s duel in the show with the odious bullies Scut Farkas and Grover Dill; and, most crucially, Ralphie’s unstoppable campaign to get Santa—or anyone else—to give him a Red Ryder carbine action 200-shot range model air rifle. Who cares that the whole adult world is telling him, “You’ll shoot your eye out, kid”? The pieces that comprise A Christmas Story, previously published in the larger collections In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash and Wanda Hickey’s Night of Golden Memories, coalesce in a magical fashion to become an irresistible piece of Americana, quite the equal of the film in its ability to warm the heart and tickle the funny bone.

Christmas is a season of peace, joy and love, but not for Ebenezer Scrooge. The meanest, greediest man in London, Scrooge hates Christmas. But everything changes one snowy Christmas Eve when Scrooge receives a ghostly visit. Over the course of that one magical night, Scrooge will come face-to-face with his past, present and future as three spirits - and a whole lot of Muppets - arrive to show him the error of his ways. Narrated by the Great Gonzo as Charles Dickens - with a little help from Rizzo the Rat - this illustrated storybook stars Kermit the Frog as Bob Cratchit, Miss Piggy as Mrs. Cratchit and the entire Muppets cast, as they help Scrooge change his fate, open his heart and discover the true meaning of Christmas.