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Happy birthday Noah Alexander Simko!

<p>SWOYERSVILLE &#8212; With a false beard and mustache, a fat suit and a kind demeanor, Kevin Costley feels comfortable portraying Kris Kringle.</p><p>But when he stepped out on stage at the Music Box Dinner Playhouse for last weekend&#8217;s opening of &#8220;Miracle on 34th Street,&#8221; the local actor was a bit concerned.</p><p>&#8220;Because of my past performances as Scrooge (the curmudgeonly miser in &#8216;A Christmas Carol&#8217;), I thought audiences might not be able to take that leap of faith with me,&#8221; Costley said.</p><p>Proof that he didn&#8217;t have to worry came after the show, when the mother of a special-needs daughter who had been sitting in the front row approached him.</p><p>&#8220;Her mother said, &#8216;Would you mind talking to her?&#8217; She wanted me to keep the persona,&#8221; Costley said. &#8220;I talked to the young lady for about five minutes, wished her a Merry Christmas, and said I would see her on Christmas.</p><p>&#8220;It was really, really special, particularly coming off the stage after my first performance.&#8221;</p><p>Costley and a cast of 20 performers, ages 6 through 60, will continue the show on Thursdays through Sundays through Dec. 17, giving audiences a chance to watch Kris Kringle charm a girl named Susan and her mother, Doris, who is an employee of Macy&#8217;s department store.</p><p>Doris is &#8220;a complete cynic because of her past relationships and her divorce,&#8221; Costley said. &#8220;Santa is able to win the kid over much more quickly.&#8221;</p><p>Perhaps happiness for Susan and Doris will involve Fred, a neighbor who sings what Costley describes as one of the musical&#8217;s most beautiful numbers, &#8220;I Wish.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;The songs aren&#8217;t really very well known although it&#8217;s a Meredith Willson show,&#8221; Costley said. &#8220;The songs didn&#8217;t pop out of this show the way they did from &#8216;Music Man&#8217; or &#8216;The Unsinkable Molly Brown.&#8217;&#8221;</p><p>Still, audiences should be familiar with the tune &#8220;It&#8217;s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas,&#8221; and they&#8217;ll probably be delighted by a song Kringle sings with a little Dutch girl, which shows he understands children no matter what language they speak.</p><p>So, is Kris Kringle the <em>real</em> Santa Claus?</p><p>&#8220;In the movie and in the play, there is ambiguity. It&#8217;s never really proven,&#8221; Costley said. &#8220;But I think anyone who watches with an open mind and an open heart believes that it&#8217;s true.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">A child tugs Kris Kringle&#8217;s beard, trying to determine if it&#8217;s real or not in one of the more heartwarming scenes from &#8216;Miracle on 34th Street, the Musical.&#8217; </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/web1_Santa1.RBG_.jpg</photo0><caption0>A child tugs Kris Kringle&#8217;s beard, trying to determine if it&#8217;s real or not in one of the more heartwarming scenes from &#8216;Miracle on 34th Street, the Musical.&#8217; </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photo </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/web1_Santa2.RBG_.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Kevin Costley, as Kris Kringle, is surrounded by the rest of the cast of &#8216;Miracle on 34th Street, the Musical,&#8217; which continues through Dec. 17 at the Music Box Dinner Playhouse in Swoyersville. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/web1_Santa2.RBG_.jpg</photo1><caption1>Kevin Costley, as Kris Kringle, is surrounded by the rest of the cast of &#8216;Miracle on 34th Street, the Musical,&#8217; which continues through Dec. 17 at the Music Box Dinner Playhouse in Swoyersville. </caption1><photoCredit1>Submitted photo </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/web1_Santa2.RBG_.cmyk_.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Kevin Costley, as Kris Kringle, is surrounded by the rest of the cast of &#8216;Miracle on 34th Street, the Musical,&#8217; which continues through Dec. 17 at the Music Box Dinner Playhouse in Swoyersville. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/web1_Santa2.RBG_.cmyk_.jpg</photo2><caption2>Kevin Costley, as Kris Kringle, is surrounded by the rest of the cast of &#8216;Miracle on 34th Street, the Musical,&#8217; which continues through Dec. 17 at the Music Box Dinner Playhouse in Swoyersville. </caption2><photoCredit2>Submitted photo </photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Swoyersville theater shows charming holiday classic</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p><strong>WHAT:</strong> &#8216;Miracle on 34th Street, the Musical&#8217;</p><p><strong>WHERE:</strong> Music Box Dinner Playhouse, 196 Hughes St., Swoyersville</p><p><strong>WHEN: </strong>Through Dec. 17 with curtain at 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays. Dinner is served 90 minutes before curtain.</p><p><strong>TICKETS:</strong> $35, $25 for dinner and show and $18, $14 for show only</p><p><strong>RESERVATIONS:</strong> 570-283-2195 or reservations@musicbox.org.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

‘Miracle on 34th Street, the Musical’ opens at Music Box Dinner Playhouse