Spookley and The Christmas Kittens
November 1 - 30, 2025
Book and Lyrics by Joe Troiano
Music composed & arranged by Jeffrey Zahn
Based on the film Spookley and the Christmas Kittens by Joe Troiano and Jim Lewis and the book, Mistletoe and the Christmas Kittens by Joe Troiano.
Directed by Cody R. Braudt
Help Spookley and Mistletoe find the Holiday spirit!
Spookley the Square Pumpkin is back in a brand new story, with some new friends at Holiday Hill Farm. When Mistletoe the Cat crashes at the Christmas party, he can’t remember where he came from. With the help of Spookley and three stray kittens, Scat, Scram and Shoo, he is about to find out just how important it is to join together, and what really makes a place a home. A world premiere adaptation of the wildly popular Netflix Holiday special Spookley and the Christmas Kittens, Joe Troiano and Jeffrey Zahn bring us another beautiful story of friendship this season.
Recommended for: All Ages
Location: Jaycees Studio Theatre
Show Run Time: 55 Minutes
Resource Guide: Download here
PLEASE NOTE: Seating for all performances of Spookley and the Christmas Kittens is general admission and seating begins 30 minutes prior to show time. Come early for the most seating options!
Spookley the Square Pumpkin, Mistletoe Cat, The Christmas Kittens, Scat, Scram, Shoo, and all other Characters © Holiday Hill Enterprises, LLC. Book copyright © Joe Troiano. Music & lyrics copyright © Troiano-Zahn Pub, Spookley Songs, and Honeymoon Music under license to Holiday Hill Enterprises, LLC.
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The Cast
David Gamache
Big Tom & Little Tom
Feven Harder
Mimi & Woodland Helper
Natalie Hendlin
Lala & Woodland Helper
Izzy Middlebrook
Spookley
Vivian Nielsen
Holly, Leaf, Snowy Owl, Magic Sack, Woodland Helper
Matt Ouren
Jack the Scarecrow & Leon Raccoon
Zola Renfroe
Bobo
Leonardo Schellhas
Scat & Woodland Helper
Ivy Strauss
Shoo & Woodland Helper
Penelope Talatinick
Mistletoe
Chance Vang
Buddy, Leaf, u/s Spookley
Ross Young
Santa
The Creative Team
- ARTISTIC DIRECTOR – Sandy Boren-Barrett
- DIRECTOR – Cody R Braudt
- MUSIC DIRECTOR – JC Lippold
- PROPS DESIGNER – Marc Berg
- PUPPETRY CONSULTANT – Gordon Smuder
- SET DESIGNER – Sarah Brandner
- PUPPET BUILDER – Bil DeLong
- SOUND DESIGNER – Gretchen Katt
- LIGHTING DESIGNER – Karin Olson
- COSTUME & MAKE UP DESIGNER – Stacey Palmer
- TECHNICAL DIRECTOR – Brady Whitcomb
- PRODUCTION MANAGER – Melanie Salmon-Peterson
- STAGE MANAGER – Emily Carey
- ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER – Elena Pierson
- SOUND BOARD OPERATOR – Maycee Klein
- LIGHT BOARD OPERATORS – Elliott Basquill & Rhys Nelson
- FJA MUSIC DIRECTING MENTEE – Arnie Morril
- SCENIC ARTISTS – Yvonne Ring, Eme Stenbeck
- MASTER ELECTRICIAN – Lucas Martin
- ELECTRICIANS – Samantha Brown, Ninchai Nok-Chiclana, Michael Remucal, Justin Sharbono, Eme Stenbeck
- VOLUNTEERS – Jeff Aune, Jenny Brown, Scott Brown, John Flannigan-Yurek, Warren Glidden, Ron Kline, Donna Meyer, Dan O’Brien, Mariann Wolf
Check back closer to Opening Night for a complete list!
Creative Team Bios
Cody R. Braudt
Director
Cody R. Braudt is a Twin Cities based director, writer, and conceiver of live performance and theatrical events. As a director, his work has been seen at Stages Theatre Company, Walking Shadow Theatre Company, The Riley-Jacques Barn, The Depot Coffee House, The CalArts New Works Festival, The Trailer Trash Project, The CalArts Coffeehouse Theater, and Acting for Others. Cody also serves as the Director of Brand Experiences for West Coast Dance Explosion, a national touring dance education convention for aspiring dancers. Following four productions of Spookley the Square Pumpkin: The Musical, Braudt is thrilled to be returning to Stages Theatre Company for the world premiere of Spookley and the Christmas Kittens.
JC Lippold
Music Director
JC Lippold constructs space for others to be curious and courageous in as a nationally renowned teacher of movement and mindset, a community engager and social movement trailblazer, a published writer, researcher and systems changer, a theatre director and gigging rock musician, and as a leadership, change and executive presence coach. JC is the Artistic Director of Minnesota’s premier senior rock ensemble Alive & Kickin and is grateful to be working on his 17th Stages Theatre Company Production.
Joe Troiano
Author, Book and Lyrics
Joe Troiano is the author, script writer, lyricist, and producer behind all of the Spookley the Square Pumpkin and Holiday Hill Farm books, movies, songs, and stage shows. Joe first conceived of Spookley one Halloween night when his young son asked for a non-scary bedtime story about pumpkins. Joe Troiano is the award-winning author of more than ten children’s books including: The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin; The Legend of Mistletoe and the Christmas Kittens; The Legend of Jellybean and the Unbreakable Egg; The Legend of Lyla the Lovesick Ladybug; The Legend of Beacon the Bright Little Firefly; It’s Your Cloud; and TEAM Rudolph and the Reindeer Games. Joe is also an accomplished lyricist, having written songs for film, music recordings, television and stage. His credits include Spookley the Square Pumpkin, Calliou, Arthur, Disney’s JoJo Circus and Monster Mash the Movie.
Jeffrey Zahn
Composer
Jeff Zahn is an award-winning music supervisor/composer. In addition to his work on Spookley the Square Pumpkin, Jeff was the music director and composer for the stage productions of Arthur’s Lucky Pencil, Cassandra’s Angels, Caillou, and Wimzie’s House. He has also produced projects for The Backstreet Boys, Wyclef Jean, Ziggy Marley, Art Garfunkel, Yo Yo Ma, The San Francisco Opera, Debra Harry and many others. As a musician, Jeff was an original member of the orchestra for Broadway production of Cats and he has performed with major headliners including Burt Bacharach, Frank Sinatra, Diana Ross, Gladys Knight, Tina Turner, Sammy Davis Jr, Earth, Wind and Fire, Dionne Warwick, and many other artists. Jeff has also supervised and composed the music for over 50 TV series including Arthur,Caillou: Are You Afraid of the Dark, Madeline,Paddington Bear, Richard Scarry, Wombles,Barney and Sesame Street. His film credits includeArthur, Twinkletoes, Frankenstein Sings; and Spookley the Square Pumpkin.
Jim Lewis
Writer
Jim Lewis is a former Jim Henson Company staff writer with a wide variety of writing and production credits. Lewis first worked with the Muppets as the editor of Muppet Magazine, having previously worked as a staff writer for Children’s Television Workshop’s Enter magazine. His first actual production was the 1988 direct-to-video Hey, You’re as Funny as Fozzie Bear. The Disney Channel program Studio DC: Almost Live was produced by him.
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