Church Hill Theatre Casts Its Christmas Carol While Dracula Holds the Stage

On Saturday, November 7, the stage at 103 Walnut Street has two jobs. From noon to 2 p.m., Church Hill Theatre holds open auditions for A Christmas Carol, and every role is open. At 7:30 that evening, the same room hosts the second performance of Don Nigro's The Transylvanian Clockworks, a dark take on the Dracula legend.

This building was put up as a room for the whole town to share, and this November its calendar shows it still works that way.

A Room Built for Card Parties and Town Meetings

The theatre's own history page says the Art Deco building was built by Elwood F. Coleman of Crumpton as the Church Hill Community Building. From 1929 to 1935 it hosted card parties, suppers, dances, graduations, town meetings and silent films, with a pianist playing along. It also housed the Town Office, a barbershop and a dentist's office.

Movie equipment went in during 1935, and the first of thousands of first-run films was Steamboat Round the Bend, starring Will Rogers. That began 45 years as a movie house. According to the theatre's account, moviegoers met at Doc Sterling's Pharmacy for an ice cream soda before the show, and some biked or walked the 10 miles from nearby larger towns. The little movie palace became known as the "Showcase of the Eastern Shore."

Multi-screen cinemas in malls and shopping centers eventually closed that chapter. In 1983 the building was threatened with demolition. A group called the Friends of Church Hill Preservation, Inc. worked to acquire it from the Town of Church Hill, restore it and start a community theatre. Their first season, in '84–'85, offered a Cultural Entertainment Series of films, benefit events, concerts and live theatre. The Maryland Historical Trust's record lists construction dates of 1929 and 1944 and a National Register listing on September 8, 2000.

The theatre still describes itself as an all-volunteer organization. For more than 30 years it has offered year-round theatre and music, drama classes and a summer drama camp for children. That matters for everything below. The people on stage and the people buying tickets are largely the same community.

The Roof Repair That Showed Who Keeps It Open

Last year that community got a test. As MyEasternShoreMD reported, a routine inspection found that the roof and one roof truss needed full replacement. The theatre paused all performances for safety while the work started. Theatre officials told the outlet the closure marked "the beginning of a long-term investment in the future of our beloved theatre."

The pause turned out to be short. In a January 2026 Chestertown Spy post, the theatre said it was "enormously grateful to the friends and patrons who helped us replace our roof and continue our 2025 season." That post announced the third Friends and Family Cabaret, the first event of 2026.

Since then the 2026 lineup has run in order. Lend Me a Soprano played in March, Chicago in June and Something's Afoot in September. The Transylvanian Clockworks is the last full-length production of the year, and A Christmas Carol closes the year with a short December run.

What's on Stage: The Transylvanian Clockworks

The Chestertown Spy's announcement says the theatre is "delighted to welcome audiences back into its Art Deco performance space" for this one. The play is set in Victorian London in 1888, with Jack the Ripper at large, and in a castle in the Carpathian Alps. The Spy describes it as a "terrifying version" of the Dracula legend that blends time, memory and erotic fantasy, producing "real shock and nervous laughter." That description is a useful guide for anyone deciding whether to bring younger family members.

The director is Greg Minahan, who played Munkustrap and served as Dance Captain in the original Broadway production of Cats. In this staging the actors stay on stage the whole time. They move from an insane asylum to a London home, and from a polished aristocrat to something far more menacing, so the movement work matters. In the same Spy piece, Minahan calls the production:

"a bald, scathing, layered, and darkly funny evisceration of the imbalances inherent in Victorian society, revealing how repressed sensuality and patriarchal zeal can lead, with righteous intensions, to cruelty, insanity, and violence."

The staging is spare, with light and shadow, a few props and a soundscape of human voices. Oric Geist plays Count Dracula and Paul Briggs plays Jonathan Harker. Christine Kinlock plays his wife Mina, and Avra Sullivan plays their cousin Lucy. Kristin Gaunt is Peg, Mina's servant and friend. Greg Allis plays Dr. Seward, and Howard Mesick plays Dr. Van Helsing.

November at 103 Walnut Street

Here's the full month: every performance on the theatre's ticket page, plus both audition sessions for A Christmas Carol.

The theatre's separate events listing stops at November 17, but the ticket page runs through the closing matinee on November 22.

The TicketStripe listing for opening night shows adult tickets at $26.65 and student tickets at $16.20. Both prices include a booking fee, and paid orders carry an extra $0.30 processing fee. Prices and availability can change. If a date has no green "Get Tickets" button, that performance is sold out. Groups and organizations can call the office at 410-556-6003 to ask about group rates.

Trying Out for A Christmas Carol

The theatre calls A Christmas Carol a CHT tradition. Its script is based on the famous radio version, and the 2026 season announcement scheduled it for December 18–20. That's three days, compared with three weekends for the Dracula play, so the cast you see in December comes together in about six weeks.

According to the auditions page, all roles are open, and the breakdown includes parts for young performers:

• 5 men
• 2 to 3 women
• 2 boys, ages 11 to 18
• 4 girls, ages 11 to 18

Both sessions are at the theatre. The Monday, November 2 session runs from 5:30 to 7 p.m., and the Saturday, November 7 session runs from noon to 2 p.m. The Saturday slot puts a family on Walnut Street a few hours before the 7:30 curtain. Someone could audition for a December role that afternoon and watch Van Helsing chase the Count that night.

The theatre's ticket page lists only the November performances so far, so check churchhilltheatre.org or call 410-556-6003 for performance times as December gets closer.

The building on Walnut Street has hosted town meetings, a barbershop, first-run Will Rogers films and volunteer theatre since the '84–'85 season. This November it runs a horror play and a holiday casting call at once, in the same room the town built in 1929.

If you're heading to The Transylvanian Clockworks or bringing a young performer to auditions, I'd love to hear how it goes. Church Hill Theatre is the kind of place that makes this corner of Queen Anne's County feel like home, and I'm always glad to talk about it, along with anything else you're wondering about around here. Jody Baker is a call or message away. Let's Connect.