'The Homecoming' returns home to the Hamner

The debate has raged for centuries.

Is straight hair superior to curly hair?

Is curly hair more beautiful than straight hair?

Why do people with straight hair spend so much money getting curly perms?

Why do those with curly hair spend so much time trying to tame their tresses?

We may never be able to find suitable answers to the mane conflict.

But for Boomie Pedersen, hairstyles played a big role when it was time to cast her latest production.

So many people wanted to participate in “The Homecoming” that the Hamner Theater director had enough actors to create two crews.

That’s right. The casts are grouped by hair this year — the Straight Hair cast, and the Curly Hair cast. And they will be alternating performances throughout the run of Earl Hamner’s beloved Christmas story.

All told, there are 21 speaking parts, many of which are doubled, resulting in a record-high cast of 32. Since “The Homecoming” is about family, Pedersen opted to cast families together, whenever possible.

The hair was an act of relative ease.

“That was just serendipitous for us,” Pedersen said. “When you have family members, they tend to have similar characteristics.”

For those new to the area, Nelson County native Earl Hamner Jr. wrote both “The Homecoming” novel and the TV special.

“It is remembered in my family that on Christmas Eve of 1933 my father was late arriving home,” Hamner has written about the pilot. “That, along with the love he and my mother bestowed upon their eight red-headed offspring, is fact. The rest is fiction.”

In 1971, CBS aired “The Homecoming: A Christmas Story,” which became the precursor to “The Waltons.” Based on Hamner’s own experiences growing up in Nelson during the Depression, the TV series became a megahit and made Hamner the most “powerful man in television” from 1972 to 1978.

He later created another TV hit series, “Falcon Crest” — quite a departure from the Walton family. Hamner returned to Virginia in October to accept the Literary Lifetime Achievement Award

“The Homecoming” is the heartwarming story of a family waiting for the magic of Christmas Eve to arrive, told from the perspective of the adult Clay-Boy (later to become John Boy in “The Waltons”).

The Hamner Theater’s “Homecoming” is an original adaptation of Hamner’s novella. Playwright and Hamner Theater co-artistic director Peter Coy tailors the play each year to fit the cast.

“It helps having the playwright right in the building,” Pedersen said. “It is a huge cast. There have been some logistical problems, but we are off and running.”

As it turned out the cast was so large, Coy almost had to write for two plays instead on one.

This year’s production features Richard Averitt as (Straight-Haired) Adult Clay Boy, and his children Savannah and Quinn as Pattie Cake and Mark. Savannah shares her role with her cousin Ella Manthey, and another cousin, Maddie Bridge, is John.

Alexey Zielinski is Clay Boy and his brother Sasha is the sound man.

April Winsheimer is Olivia and her daughter Kaya is Amanda, the City Lady’s daughter.

David Ferrall appears as Ep Bridges and his daughters Louise and Alice are Becky and Luke, respectively.

David Stewart, who appears regularly with the Hamner Improv Troupe, shares the roles of Charlie Snead and Clay Spencer, and his son Cameron, also a HIT regular, is Matt.

David Key, who has been seen at Play On Theatre, makes his Hamner debut, sharing the roles of Ep Bridges and Charlie Snead.

Brothers Will and Henry Yagel play brothers Luke and John, while Herbert Wender returns this year as Mark.

Robin Luecke also makes her Hamner debut as the City Lady, sharing the role with Linda Crowe. Robin’s son Jack Luecke takes on the role of (Curly) Birdshot.

Dakota Crocker is (Straight Hair) Birdshot and his sister Willow appears as Shirley.

Jacquie Burke is the (Curly) Shirley. Her father, Thomas Burke, plays (Curly-Haired) Adult Clay Boy and her mother, Pam Burke, is Emma Staples.

Rounding out the cast are Jo Rozycki as Becky; Mary Coy and Carol McAvoy, sharing the role of Etta Staples; Rick Steeves returning as Grandpa Homer; and Cindy LaChance taking on Grandma Ida.

Whew.

The production also marks the debut of Roger Collins and Barbara Page.

Collins, Nelson County’s superintendent of schools, shares the part of father Clay Spencer. Page, who taught in the theater when it was a school, plays Miriam Dooly, Hawthorne Dooly’s widow. Page also is an author. Her book, “Annie’s Ride to Grandma’s,” tells the story of a girl’s journey to her grandmother’s house in Piney River.

“Hawthorne Dooly is one of the original parts, but I could not find an African-American man to play the part,” Pedersen said. “But Barbara Page came in. She is standing in as the reverend’s widow for both casts.”

There will be a champagne and cider reception following tonight’s Straight Hair show. (The Curlys opened the run last night.) There were even two earlier preview shows, and there will be two pay-what-you-will shows, one for each cast.

I guess you just will have to go see both in order to see if the Straight Hair vs. Curly Hair debate spills over into community theater.

The Hamner Theater is in the Rockfish Valley Community Center on Route 151, between Nellysford and Afton.