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Old Fashioned Holiday Market continues Saturday on Public Square

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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; &#8220;I 100-percent believe in Santa Claus,&#8221; Lucy Lew said. &#8220;I 100-percent love Christmas.&#8221;</p><p>The 13-year-old dancer from Dallas was expressing the emotions of Holly, a character she portrays in the Dance Theatre of Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s production of &#8220;The Polar Express.&#8221;</p><p>But those feelings are not too far from her own enthusiasm for the holiday season, which includes the excitement of putting on the ballet.</p><p>&#8220;We have reindeer; they&#8217;re so cute. We have snowmen. We have ornaments. We have a garland dance,&#8221; she said, a little breathlessly after performing excerpts from the show Thursday evening at a pop-up shop in downtown Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s Midtown Village. &#8220;I loved rehearsing, spending weekends with my friends.&#8221;</p><p>The Dance Theatre of Wilkes-Barre will present the family-friendly show at 6 this evening in the Downtown Arts building, 47 N. Franklin St., Wilkes-Barre. Admission is $10.</p><p>On Thursday evening, shoppers who were perusing essential oils, fine chocolates and other wares during a &#8220;Shop Pop-up for a Cause&#8221; event in Midtown Village were treated to excerpts from the show, as a conductor&#8217;s voice called &#8220;All aboard&#8221; and the sound of chugging wheels filled the room.</p><p>There was no train in sight, but a bevy of young dancers, most of them clad in red costumes with white trim, began leaping and twirling through the shop.</p><p>The story line is loosely based on &#8220;The Polar Express&#8221; story by Chris Van Allsburg and, Dance Theatre of Wilkes-Barre director Gina Malsky said, it includes a pivotal character named Belle, older sister to Holly, who doesn&#8217;t share her younger sibling&#8217;s child-like faith.</p><p>&#8220;I guess she&#8217;s too old,&#8221; said 16-year-old Emma Granahan, of Exeter, who plays the non-believing Belle.</p><p>Never mind her character&#8217;s jaded attitude. Granahan predicted the show will put people in a holiday frame of mind.</p><p>&#8220;We have a snow set and a Christmas tree that we&#8217;re supposed to decorate,&#8221; she said, explaining what the stage will look like.</p><p>At tonight&#8217;s performance Dance Theatre of Wilkes-Barre will continue to sell chances for raffle baskets, with proceeds to go towards scholarships to the Jewish Community Center&#8217;s camp program.</p><p>Offerings include an Italian gift basket, a decorative wreath studded with lottery tickets and a New Year&#8217;s Eve package that includes champagne and champagne glasses, a mink wrap, sparkling jewelry, an Uber gift card and a 2019 journal.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Dancers from the Dance Theatre of Wilkes-Barre perform excerpts of &#8216;The Polar Express&#8217; ballet at a Pop-Up Shop in Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s Midtown Village on Thursday evening. They will perform the entire ballet at 6 tonight <ins>Dec. 1</ins> in the Downtown Arts building, 47 N. Franklin St., Wilkes-Barre.  </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_Polar-Express1.jpeg</photo0><caption0>Dancers from the Dance Theatre of Wilkes-Barre perform excerpts of &#8216;The Polar Express&#8217; ballet at a Pop-Up Shop in Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s Midtown Village on Thursday evening. They will perform the entire ballet at 6 tonight <ins>Dec. 1</ins> in the Downtown Arts building, 47 N. Franklin St., Wilkes-Barre.  </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_Polar-Express2.jpeg">
<div class="neCaption">Lucy Lew, 13, of Dallas, performs a dance solo in an excerpt from the Dance Theatre of Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s production of &#8216;The Polar Express.&#8217; In the ballet she portrays a character who is very enthusiastic about Christmas, Lew said, explaining that mirrors her real-life feelings. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_Polar-Express2.jpeg</photo1><caption1>Lucy Lew, 13, of Dallas, performs a dance solo in an excerpt from the Dance Theatre of Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s production of &#8216;The Polar Express.&#8217; In the ballet she portrays a character who is very enthusiastic about Christmas, Lew said, explaining that mirrors her real-life feelings. </caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_Polar-Express3.jpeg">
<div class="neCaption">Some of the lead dancers from the Dance Theatre of Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s production of &#8216;The Polar Express&#8217; include Emma Granahan, 16, of Exeter, who portrays a character who has lost her belief in the magic of Christmas; Kaitlyn Smith, 15, of Mountain Top, who portrays Princess Claus, and Lydia Pealer, 15, of West Wyoming, who portrays an elf. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/web1_Polar-Express3.jpeg</photo2><caption2>Some of the lead dancers from the Dance Theatre of Wilkes-Barre&#8217;s production of &#8216;The Polar Express&#8217; include Emma Granahan, 16, of Exeter, who portrays a character who has lost her belief in the magic of Christmas; Kaitlyn Smith, 15, of Mountain Top, who portrays Princess Claus, and Lydia Pealer, 15, of West Wyoming, who portrays an elf. </caption2><photoCredit2></photoCredit2></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Dance Theatre of Wilkes-Barre to present holiday show</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mary Therese Biebel</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;The Polar Express&#8217;</p><p><strong>Who: </strong>Dance Theatre of Wilkes-Barre</p><p><strong>When:</strong> 6 p.m. Dec. 1</p><p><strong>Where:</strong> Downtown Arts building, 47 N. Franklin St., Wilkes-Barre</p><p><strong>Admission:</strong> $10</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>

‘Polar Express’ to pull in to Downtown Arts