Hanukkah is already wrapping up? Christmas is next week?! How did we get here? Hope you have time in between all that last-minute shopping this weekend — and yes, you are at last minute! — to get in one last theatrical production featuring our young thespians in 2025! It’s been a busy year, an d it wraps up this weekend. Check out these closing productions while you can: Fine Arts Association The Fine Arts Association in Willoughby closes “Anne of Green Gables: The Musical Production” on Dec. 21. Production dates and times are Dec. 19 at 7:30 p.m. and Dec. 20 and 21 at 2 p.m. at the Corning Auditorium. Ticket prices are $29 for adults, $27 for seniors ages 60 and older and students ages 11 to 18, and $19 for children ages 10 and yoiunger. Tickets are on sale at www.fineartsassociation.org or by calling 440-951-7500, ext. 2. The production is rated G with a running time of 2 hours. Based on the beloved novel by L.M. Montgomery, Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert, the musical is Canada’s longest running musical and recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s longest running musical. FAA’s multigenerational cast features 32 performers, including 19 of the area’s young thespians. Aidan Lynch, a 13-years-old eighth-grader at Hawken Middle School is one of those young thespians. He enjoys playing piano and contemporary dance (both studying at Fine Arts), voice (studying at Pfabe’s Music Academy), and is a member of Fine Arts Musical Theater Production dance company. Aidan is also a member of the Hawken Junior Players Society and enjoys playing in the Hawken concert band (bass clarinet) as well as the jazz band (piano). “In ‘Anne of Green Gables’ I play Gilbert Blythe,” Aidan tells me. “I wanted to be a part of this production because I love engaging in the theater community and welcome all opportunities to expand my theater skill set. I think the theme of ‘Anne of Green Gables’ is embracing oneself, finding family, and becoming a part of a community.” He is an active member of the local theatre community, having appeared in productions like  “Cats” and “Matilda” at Fine Arts and “The Music Man” and “The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales” at Rabbit Run. He also has appeared in “Aladdin Jr.” at Hawken and has also worked as backstage crew for “Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street” at Rabbit Run and “Jekyll and Hyde” at Fine Arts. “This story works for audiences because everyone wants a place to belong to much like Anne does in the story,” Aidan says of his current production. “In this performance I hope to show that behind Gilbert’s teasing is a person who is quite fond of Anne.” Ian Graham is a 17-year-old senior at Andrews Osborne Academy who enjoys swimming, esports, musical theater, and Pokémon card collecting. Before “Anne,” Ian appeared in “Beauty and the Beast,” “Hairspray,” and “The Little Mermaid” at Andrews Osborne Academy and “Beetlejuice” and “Seussical” at Curtain 440. “I am playing Mr. Philips and I wanted to be in this show cause thought to would be nice to be in a musical at Fine Arts around Christmas time and get to meet lots of new people,” Ian says. “I think the plot of the show is really nice and the way the show ends is so good and leaves the audience feeling good.” You can catch that feeling one more weekend at Fine Arts Association in Willoughby. Ashtabula Arts Center Ballet Theatre Ashtabula’s 2025 production of “The Nutcracker” also closes this weekend after running the last two weeks. Seats are already filling quickly, and the Arts Center recommends purchasing tickets early; call 440-964-3396 or go to ashtabulaartscenter.org to order. Remnaing performance dates are December 18-21 with show times on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. Advance sale tickets are $19 for adults, $17 for senior/student/military, and $15 for children ages 2-12. For tickets at the door, add $2. Young Thespians is a regular column that focuses on youth in theater. Do you have a production you wish to see featured? E-mail [email protected], or join our “Young Thespians” Facebook group and post your show information. ...read more read less