Incarnate Word Academy High School is one of 100 schools and non-profit community organizations in the U.S. selected to receive a $1,000 production grant to perform “Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus.” The school's theatre arts department will perform the production on Wednesday, Dec. 2, in the Mother Patricia Gunning Gymnasium.
“The grant was awarded by Macy’s Department Store to support theatre arts in schools and to spread the message of believing. We are blessed to have been selected,” IWA Theatre Arts Teacher Jonathan Montgomery said.
There will be three performances during the day, including at 9 a.m. for the elementary level; 1:15 p.m. for the middle level; and 2:30 p.m. for the high school level. The performances are open to the public with free admission.
Adapted by the animated film “Yes, Virginia,” the play is based on the true story of Virginia O’Hanlon, an eight-year-old girl who wrote a letter in 1897 to the
New York Sun newspaper asking if there was a Santa Claus. Editor Francis Church at first refused to respond to her questions. After her determination to get a response, Church was persuaded to write his answer—an answer that became the most famous newspaper editorial of all time.