December in Sturgeon Bay has its own kind of soundtrack. Holiday lights glow a little brighter against the early sunsets, music spills out of lounges and waterfront venues, and small-town streets fill with shoppers, cocoa in hand, searching for just the right gifts. Here at the Holiday Music Motel, we’re closing out the year the way we love best, celebrating local creativity, supporting our neighbors, and pointing you toward the can’t-miss events that make Door County feel extra magical this time of year.
Beginning this week, you can experience a different kind of live theatre unfold before your eyes at Third Avenue PlayWorks while also celebrating the holidays. “A Christmas Carol: A Live Radio Play” opened on Wednesday at the Sturgeon Bay theater, retelling the familiar story of Ebenezer Scrooge and his emotional transformation following the visits of the Christmas Ghosts of Past, Present, and Future. While the WBFR Radio Players will still look and play the parts of Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, and others on stage, they will also double as the production’s sound effects department. It is a throwback to an art form that dates back to the 1880s in France and hit its peak popularity in the United States from the 1930s through the 1960s. TAP Artistic Director Jacob Janssen says watching the actors play all of the different parts—from characters to sound effects—is a special treat for audiences.
What is a radio play anyway? In this unique theatrical experience, you’ll see your favorite TAP actors, playing actors, who are playing their roles in A Christmas Carol. The scene you’ll see before you is a 1940’s sound stage complete with art deco styling, microphones, and tables full of items to create live sound effects.
Third Avenue Playworks filled its windows with Christmas characters to brighten the street last year. File photo by Rachel Lukas. Third Avenue PlayWorks (TAP) will present A Christmas Carol: A Live Radio Play from Dec. 3 through 28 at TAP’s Steve and Jackie Kane Theatre, 239 N. 3rd Ave. in Sturgeon Bay.
Third Avenue PlayWorks (TAP) is proud to announce its upcoming production of A Christmas Carol: A Live Radio Play, adapted for the stage by Joe Landry, Music by Kevin Connors, from the novella by Charles Dickens. The final show of the 2025 season at Third Avenue PlayWorks runs from December 3 through 28, 2025, featuring performances by Cassandra Bissell, Neil Brookshire, Ray Jivoff, Dan Klarer, and Rána Roman, with sound design and foley by Brian Grimm.
Third Avenue PlayWorks has scheduled what artistic director Jacob Janssen says is "a season of grand adventures," including a world premiere, a supposed behind-the-scenes look at the making of a film classic and the traditional adaptation of a holiday classic, for the downtown Sturgeon Bay theater's 2026 season, unveiled in an Instagram video with Janssen posted on TAP's website.
The WBFR Radio Players are back on the Third Avenue PlayWorks stage for the holiday season, but this year they are taking on a different story from the Christmas canon. Rehearsals are underway, and tickets are on sale for TAP’s production of “A Christmas Carol: A Live Radio Play.” Featuring performances by Cassandra Bissell, Neil Brookshire, Ray Jivoff, Dan Klarer, and Rána Roman, the production delivers a 1940s-era radio experience of the classic tale of Ebenezer Scrooge and his encounters with the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future. Artistic Director Jacob Janssen says audiences will get to enjoy both the “theater of the mind” and live theater on Sturgeon Bay’s 3rd Avenue.
Third Avenue PlayWorks (TAP) is giving away a Sturgeon Bay holiday getaway package. The winner will receive four tickets to see A Christmas Carol: A Live Radio Play at TAP, plus a two-night stay at the nearby Holiday Music Motel and two candles from Door County Candle.
Radio was the “dominant electronic home entertainment medium” from the early 1920s to late 1950s in the United States, known as the Golden Age of Radio. Just as folks in the 21st century have their favorite visual series on Netflix, Amazon or Hulu, people in the first half of the 20th century had their favorite audio series/programs. Programs like The Shadow, Gunsmoke, and Little Orphan Annie had faithful listeners eagerly anticipating weekly episodes. Actors, musicians, announcers, radio and sound engineers, advertisers and others were part of a phenomena that lives on nowadays as nostalgic entertainment. Old-time radio can now be found on dedicated radio stations, podcasts, online streaming, satellite radio like SiriusXM, and in The Internet Archive.
Third Avenue PlayWorks (TAP) is proud to announce its upcoming production of A Christmas Carol: A Live Radio Play, adapted for the stage by Joe Landry, Music by Kevin Connors, from the novella by Charles Dickens. The final show of the 2025 season at Third Avenue PlayWorks runs from December 3 through 28, 2025, featuring performances by Cassandra Bissell, Neil Brookshire, Ray Jivoff, Dan Klarer, and Rána Roman, with sound design and foley by Brian Grimm.
