It’s Christmas time at the Cincinnati Zoo, and everyone is excited to start celebrating the season – everyone except Lois Jean, the zookeeper’s daughter. Lois Jean is missing her mother, a zoologist who has moved to Africa in order to study wild hippos. Lois Jean knows that her mother would come home for Christmas if the zoo’s resident hippo Big Suzy had her baby – however, Lois Jean’s father George explains that Big Suzy’s baby isn’t due until a month after Christmas. Lois Jean remains determined to reunite her family in time for the holidays, so when Santa comes to visit the children at the zoo, Lois Jean tells him she wants a hippopotamus for Christmas. Santa promises to do what he can, and the next day, Big Suzy’s baby is born – a little girl hippo Lois Jean names Bella. Because Bella is born so early, she faces serious health issues – her survival depends on a new serum that Dolly, Lois Jean’s mother, has developed in Africa. Despite the distance, George is finally able to communicate with Dolly and inform her of the situation. Dolly immediately hops a plane, and all of Cincinnati waits eagerly for her arrival, hoping Bella will be able to survive until Dolly gets there. Suddenly a blizzard grounds Dolly’s plane in New York and all appears lost – until “what to my wondering eye should appear, but a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer!” Santa Claus has picked Dolly up in New York and flown her home just in time to save Bella – and Christmas. George and Dolly reunite, and we are once again reminded that there’s nothing better than Christmas at the Cincinnati Zoo!
The Barter Players are the non-union Theatre for Young Audience acting company inside
Barter Theatre, the State Theatre of Virginia. Barter Theatre began in 1933 where it made an extraordinary offer to Depression-era actors and audiences: barter produce and farm animals to gain admission to see a play. The concept of exchanging “Ham for Hamlet” was an overnight success. Today, Barter runs in full rotating repertory year-round with a company of true resident actors who perform in more than 20 productions annually for an audience of over 130,000 people. The Barter Players have been acclaimed as one of the finest theatre troupes for young people anywhere; they tour with a unique combination of education and entertainment, plus the commitment to bring world-class theatre to young people of all ages and backgrounds.
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