The Cast of the Christmas Carol!

My name is Emmanuel Capers, I am 25 years old. I have a bachelors in Arts and Humanities

from the University of Louisiana at Monroe. I have performed in many Operas, concerts and

Musicals at ULM and the Strauss theatre. My most recent performance at Strauss was

Godspell under the direction of Terri Cunningham. I am excited and honored to be a part

of A Christmas Carol this year!

Director’s Note: I saw Emmanuel in Godspell and was excited to have him join our cast. The man is very talented and I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know him better over the past few weeks with this show. Only regret is that I didn’t get to know him sooner, he’s a great guy!

The Cast of the Christmas Carol!

 

Blane Evans has been involved with community theatre for the past 3 years and is

currently a student at Strauss Youth Academy for the Arts. Being apart of over 10

productions, some of his most iconic role are Edgar Allen Poe in Poe’s Dreams of Madness,

Hamlet in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, and Mr. Dussel in The Diary of Anne

Frank. He is dedicated to furthering his experience in this field and telling as many

stories as he can.

Directors Note: I got to know Blane during “How to Succeed” a show that was cancel the same weekend the pandemic started and it’s a shame too because he was great in it. I’m overjoyed to have my co-star back on stage for Christmas Carol in yet another role I know he will shine in.

The Cast of the Christmas Carol!

 

My name is Madison Hernandez. I'm a Junior Politcal Science major at the University of

Louisiana Monroe. My plans after college are to attend Law School in pursuit of a Juris

Doctorate. I'm from Calhoun, Louisiana. I have enjoyed theatre since I was a child and am

proud to be apart of this wonderful cast.

Director’s Note: From the very first day Madison secured the role of the Ghost of Christmas Present. She’s got a natural talent that this show benefits from. She’s also been a extreme help behind the scenes as well in assisting with the set. She’s a multi-talented actress that I hope comes back to the Strauss again in the near future.

The Cast of the Christmas Carol!

 

Laney Goodwin has been involved with several community theatres since she was thirteen years old

and plans to continue with the local theatre scene as long as possible. She is currently

pursuing a degree in theatre at Louisiana Tech, but is excited to be back in Monroe.

Director’s Note: Laney’s also the assistant director for the show and has been an enormous blessing to me since day 1. The past few weeks she’s had to furiously translate my random and vague request I’ve made of her throughout the show. The show wouldn’t be what it is right now without her.

The Cast of the Christmas Carol!

 

John Turner has been a drafter/designer for over 5 years for a couple local companies. He

has been back with Strauss as backstage crew/special effects for 3 years now and is

excited to be back on the stage in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. He is also

involved in Shakespeare in Love and Merry Wives of West Windsor with CA Studios. He has

been involved as backstage crew/special effects in Baskerville, Who's in bed with the

Butler, Mamma Mia, and other productions of Strauss. He has been in a few Shakespeare

plays under Cathy Airhart in his teenage years including Much Ado about Nothing and The

Tempest.

Director’s Note: John’s been a big help with building and moving the set around for the show as well as doing his part as a cast member. I’m thankful for his contributions both on and off the stage!

Thoughts

 Isn't it sad we live in a world that mandates us to hide our smile?

Zombies!!! 60 A Horrible Day in the Neighborhood

 In another celebratory 10th expansion, I thought we'd bring the players into the residential area of the game. Where it's just a bunch of houses you enter to grab hearts and bullets from. Special zombies would be included such as a gardener, jogger and mailman. The player pawns would be police officers still trying to protect and serve where they can. 

You could include kids and dogs from previous expansions as well and the cards could feature a bunch of old 50's style neighborhood themes. Such as cookouts, lending a helping hand, or baking a cake for new neighbors. 

Besides the Halloween expansion, this is a great way to build onto the base game with a residential area to play in. 

Have a good weekend folks! 

Zombies!!! 59 Better Red than Dead!

 Sticking to the theme from the last expansion, you make it down from the North Pole to the mother country to encounter Commie Zombies! Of course they'd be a special figure for this expansion but other than that it would have Russian themes throughout the game. 

You could even have Russian guns and weapons too. Thinking back on it, I should've put all these together and called them the "World edition" expansions since I have so many ideas of places around the world this game could go. 

Zombies!!! 58 Yuletide Horror

 We finally get to the end of the holiday expansions with a visit to the North Pole where everyone's favorite jolly fat man has been infected with the virus....as have his elves...and his reindeer. 

The players scurry around the North Pole, trying to get to Santa's sleigh to escape the horrors of this holiday season. With one zombie Santa (a 10 to kill) and several elves and reindeer zombie figures about, this is a fitting in to the "holiday" series of expansions. 

Zombies!!! 57 Trick or Treat, give me brains to eat!

 It's now Halloween in the holiday expansion series and this time, pumpkin headed creatures walk the night. Are they zombies? Who knows?! All you know is you have to take them out as you run through the residential area in town. 

If you have zombie kids from previous expansions, you're free to use them here as well. They're also those pesky pumpkin head zombies (mimicking the kid in the movie Trick or Treat) that you have to fend off as well. 

New player pawns, show character dressed as a cowboy, spaceman, superhero, cat, princess and a sheet ghost. 

Zombies!!! 56 Zombie Independence Day

 It's not time to celebrate our nations birthday but this time with zombies inhabiting the earth! Use all sorts of fireworks as weapons against the undead in this expansion, as the zombies are dressed up in patriotic gear. One looking like uncle Sam, while another is waving a tattered flag. 

From cherry bombs to bottle rockets, you'll remember the words of your mother when she said "If you're not careful, you could put your eye out!"

This one also has a "super weapon" included in the deck that when you set it off, it kills all the zombies on your tile and the one next to you. Could led to some interesting mega kills!

Mask Fail

 If the mask mandate worked, why are we seeing a rise in cases? 

If the mask mandate didn't work, why are we still doing it?

Zombies!!! 55 Evil Egg Hunt

 It's Easter in the next expansion as you move through the holidays and this time giant zombified Easter bunnies are coming for you!

You're goal is to move around the area collects 6 different colored eggs and making it back out of the Easter Egg field. The bunnies move 2 spaces per turn so they're a little faster than the average zombie. They also require a 5 to beat so they're a little harder in that aspect as well. 

All the eggs tokens are face down so you don't know what color it is until you flip it over. And it stays hidden if its a color you already have. Players never reveal what colors they've found or what they have left to retrieve until the end. You can also confront other players in a battle (just like in Zombies!!! 15) and look at their eggs to steal the color you need if victorious. 

Zombies!!! 54 Unluck of the Irish

 Following the Holiday expansions is St Patty's Day, where you make your way through Ireland avoiding zombies AND evil leprechauns! 

This will play off the Leprechaun horror series and have random cards spoofing the movie series. Leprechaun pawns move up to three spaces at a time on the board and require a 6 to catch. But if you get one, you get to draw a special "Pot-o-Gold" card which gives you a permanent ability in the game! 

A few of the powers I thought of were:

1) Hold unlimited cards in your hand

2) play 2 cards per turn

3) Gain +1 movement on all turns

Nothing too big but enough to make a slight difference in the gameplay. 

Zombies!!! 53 Bloody Valentine

 The 2nd installment of the Zombies!!! holiday series takes on the most loveliest time of the year!

This expansion has valentine zombie figures and forces you to collect a set of 12 of the same type (or 25 mixed) to win. It comes with player boards with spots to store the zombies to give to your loved one as a gift in this messed up world. 

You can also use the bag-o-brains that is sold separately at Twilight Creations website to throw on to the board and move zombies to the tile from other areas of the board. Because nothing attracts zombies more than brains! This is a house rule we already have set up, but it'd be nice to make it official in a rule book here. 

  

Zombies!!! 52 New Years Evil

 Welcome to my "Holiday" series of expansions for Zombies!!!

We start at the coming of a new year. As players march through Time Square, fending of zombies during the ringing of a new year. The Zombies come in tuxes and gowns, party favors hanging from their slacked jaws. 

The goal is timed over 10 rounds, where you countdown the clock until the new year. Will your resolution be to lose weight? Get a new job? Or kill more zombies?  

Zombies!!! 51 The Pecking Dead

 This expansion would serve as another scenario based expansion, offering extra tiles for games and some Zombie birds! The vultures caught the virus while feeding on the dead and spread the virus airborn to eagles, ravens and Owls. Now you have to watch the skies for an attack from above!

Birds can move one tile at a time so they're fast. You can also have cards that joke on Hitchcock's movie "The Birds" as well in this expansion.   

Zombies!!! 50 The Big One

 Having 50 expansions to the game should be marked with a special occasion so I thought this expansion would include zombies figures with party hats or holding cakes and would also have double sized tiles which would represent things like a parking lot, or car dealership and other various places you'd find around the city. You could all add it to the base game.

I'd also drop the roman numeral from the game because when you've made it this far the number itself seems far more impressive. This may also be a Kickstarter project because I would want fans to get involved on submitting their own cards and ideas for zombies figures. 

It'd come with various stretch goals which would give you figures for past expansions, like the CEO from 11 or the Bus from my earlier suggestion of 40. Either way, this would have to be the biggest one yet. 

Zoombies!!! 49 Someone Save the Queen!

 In this expansion you're in the UK fighting off British zombies at Buckingham Palace in a race against time to save the queen inside. 

Tiles can be all the sites of England with zombies in tow at every corner. Taking Zombies!!! to other corners of the globe and there's plenty of other places this series could go....I'll address those later.

I even thought about making the Queen a zombie herself that you'd have to kill her in the end but I doubt many Brits would like that idea. 

Zombies!!! 48 Bash at the Beach

 Zombies seem to be everywhere these days, which is why you're not surprised when they show up on the beach to ruin your little reprieve. Bikini and life guard zombies are included, you can once again bring kid zombies and dog zombies into the mix here. 

With weapons like a tent peg or beach umbrella I think this expands the base game in the right way. From spring break to summer vacation jokes, there's many card ideas to be made from this. As for tiles, they wouldn't be all of the beach but a few would focus on beach hotels, food and drink stands and a volley ball court. 

Zombies!!! 47 Fright at the Opera

 An old opera hall seems the perfect place to escape from it all, but it isn't. Not in this game at least. Opera zombies and fat lady with viking hat zombies would be included as you move through both levels of the hall clearing out the zombies within. 

This would be a timed game for when "the fat lady sings" the game comes to an end. If the players haven't defeated the Fat lady of the opera zombie by then, they lose. The first one to successfully kill her is the winner!

Though I don't go to operas a lot I have to admit it's another great idea for an expansion. Plus with a mega zombie to kill in it, you'd probably have to scavenge for bullets and heart tokens before facing her so there's a challenge right there. 

Zombies!!! 46 Festival of the Dead

 An abandoned arts and crafts festival has now been inhabited by zombies and it's up to you to clear th way through for safe passage!

Fight off zombies with homemade crafts made by local retailers. Use pickled veggies or canned goods to throw at zombies, the possibilities are endless. If you have zombie kids figures you can add them into the game as well because what family wouldn't want to go to one of these when the zombie outbreak started?!

I know they had a carnival expansion a while back but it played more like a circus so this one would be different in many aspects. 

Zombies!!! 45 Hell to the Chief

 The title pays on the song for the President, this expansion leads our players to the White House is search of order. But all they find is chaos!

Republicans and Democrats finally found some common ground...in their decision to eat you! This one is perfect for the fans who're just fed up with politics all together and want to blow all the politicians away!

The president pawn would be hard to kill. Like a "6" or higher. But other than that, you'd be tearing your way through Washington DC taking out as many zombies as your heart desired. 

You can't tell me this isn't one of the best ideas I've had for an expansion yet!!

Zombies!!! 44 Bloody Acres

 The player move out into the country to try and escape the undead....but you can't escape the undead! Farmer zombie figures, farm tools could be weapons for cards and different crops could be featured on tiles. Another no brainer (pun intended) for the Zombies!!! franchise to enter. 

And let's be honest, the base players having a shotgun in this expansion goes perfectly with the established theme. I could truly do this all day! 

Zombies!!! 43 Dead Folks Home

 Sad to say but in this expansion we discover that even the elderly couldn't be spared from the zombie apocalypse. This expansion would have walker riding grandma zombies you'd have to take out as well as a few older human pawns you'd need to save from the plague. It would serve as a rescue mission and I can only imagine the great artwork Dave Atkins could deliver for this expansion. 

One card could even say "False teeth" meaning any wounds you suffer this round don't count due to lack of teeth in the zombies mouth!

Zombies!!! 42 Running on the Deadmill

 

Ha! Gotta love those puns in the title!

Working out at my gym everyday I got to wondering what it would be like to fight zombies there. (I spend a lot of lonely hours on the elliptical) 

But you'd have fat and ripped zombie figures you'd have to fight off not on in the weight room but the spa, yoga area, smoothie station etc. Several tiles for zombie battles to take place. Plus a nice weapon would be a medicine ball, dumb bell or weight bar. 

I'm telling you, there's not a place in town that isn't perfect for a zombie expansion!

Baby Yoda Eats Eggs

 Everyone is asking my opinion on this. I don't watch the new Star Wars shows but I'm glad to hear there are so many people out their who consider an unborn baby a living being. 

Good for them. 

Congrats!

 Norway, Sweden and Finland have 3 things in common. 

They have the lowest COVID cases per captia in the world and all 3 have the least restrictions on lockdowns and mask mandates.

Just saying.

Zombies!!! 41: At the movies

 

You know how each expansion has the film roll over to the side like the game is out of a movie? Well in this expansion you'll actually be IN the movie theater battling zombies from within!

But these aren't ordinary zombies, they're the classic movie monsters! Frankenstein, Dracula, Wolfman and the Mummy. Each with its own special ability in the game. Frankenstein has strength, Wolfman is fast and so on and so on. 

Battling classic movie monsters plus the undead would make this expansion very popular I believe. 

Zombies!!! XXXX

 

You'd have to go big on the 40th expansion to Zombies!!! which is why I'd include a helicopter mini into this set along with player boards to keep track of all your items and a reminder of the gameplay. I'd also add more city cards and some city worker zombies for the base game. 

I'd also make a special mayor zombie figure who's harder to kill than the others and is your goal in the game. Plus, I'd add a bus route which is constantly on the move during the game and allows to you to move around more quickly getting off whenever you want to. But you would need to collect coins in order to pay to ride on it. (it's automated let's say) No coin? You get dropped off at the next location. 

It'd be a unique idea for the game I believe. 

Zombies!!! 39 Train of the Dead

 Playing off the Zombie movie Train to Busan this would give the city an extra add-on of the train. I piece that can get you around the outer edge of the city once completed but will require you to fight off special Conductor Train zombies. 

Twilight Creations has always borrowed from zombie films in the past that it makes sense they should do so with this movie as well. There's a lot of card ideas, like a shovel used for coal can now be turned into a weapon. Or maybe have a way to load up the train with zombies and export them to another side of the city. 

Lots of idea to play with here. 

Zombies!!! 38 Bones of Broadway

 I'm into theater so why not take the Zombie expansion series there?! You could have Shakespeare, dancer and director zombies with the expansion and include them with the base set.

The inside jokes for the cards would be endless here and anyone whoever took part in even a high school play could relate to this expansion or I guess you'd call it an "extension" to the base game. 

Seriously, Twilight Creations Inc needs to hire me. I've got several ideas for this game.  

Zombies!!! 37 Flying the Unfriendly Skies

 

This time our players have come up with an idea to go to the airport and get a plane out of zombie land. But there's no escaping the undead and now they have to fight through the airport, using luggage as a weapon I'm sure, to make it to the end. 

You could add this in with the base expansion of the city, have an upstairs and downstairs and have many places for names of tiles to go. Seriously, what couldn't go well with this game?! All you have to do is look around and say "What would you do if zombies were located there?"

But it's another reason why I love the game so much. 

Zombies!!! 36 Supermarket Sweep

 

This expansion would be different in that each player would set the tiles out first, one at a time. Adding zombies along the way. Then the game would begin. 

You draw 3 cards each, highlighting different items you need to retrieve to get in and out of the store. First one to gather all their items and make it out, wins! You could even have them draw the cards off the top of the deck one at a time. So that each time they fulfill a request, they draw another card and head into the next direction they need to go. 

It's a great idea that would change up the game significantly.

Zombies!!! 35 Pizza Panic

 The players make there way into an old pizza party joint similar to Chuck E Cheese and do battle all around the dining area, electronic figures, ball pit, skeet ball, etc. The zombies here are mascots of the pizza place. 

Fighting a zombie in a ball pit has been done on the Walking Dead and I think it's a great place for an expansion. Your cards will have the average pizza jokes on them and it could be added on to the base game easily once the main door tile is placed. 

And if I could get away with it, a mouse mascot zombie with a cigar in its mouth would be funny to have. 

Have a good weekend folks!

Zombies!!! 34 Highway to Hell

 

In this expansion, players would find themselves on the open road encountering zombies along the way. In addition with trucker zombie pawns, all the cards would form a narrow lane with a few splits in the road to allow for a unique path each time. 

Players could even be gathering gas tokens to fill up their diesel engine before winning the game. Lots of clichés to use in this game. Plus you could even have some truck stops and tourist trap buildings within the tiles too. 

  

Zombies!!! 33 Revenge of the souls!

 

With all these Zombies running around, what happened to their souls? Well in this expansion you'll find out as the ghosts appear to haunt you in this game. Ghosts can't be killed but move around the board with no restrictions, either hindering your movement, causing you to lose cards or a wide variety of other things. 

Nothing seems to go well for our players and this "ghost" expansion would certainly raise the bar for them. Personally, I'm all for the ghost looking like the classic bed sheet one but you could go with a figure that was a zombie on top and smoky mist at the bottom I suppose. They'd be like the glow in the dark ones too!

Zombies!!! 32 Off the Reservation

 From an Amish community to an Indian reservation. Is NOTHING sacred to the undead?! Now you're fighting your way, using a bow and arrows (instead of bullets) along with whatever other items you can find, like a tomahawk.

Indian zombies (just like Amish zombies in the previous expansion I mentioned) would infest this expansion. Again, more of the same but with different tiles and items to battle zombies with, I don't see this being a retread of anything previously mentioned. 

Is it too much to say you have the players dressed as cowboys? Hmmmm....

Zombies!!! 31 Amish Paradise

 The players go to visit an Amish community which can survive without electricity which means they shouldn't have any problems living in the world of zombies. WRONGO!

You come across a community of Amish zombies and have to fight your way through them to survive. Instead of a helicopter, you're trying to get to the sole remaining Horse and cart! Fight with a variety of hand tools and handmade items to win!

Honestly, I could up with these scenarios for days! 

Zombies!!! XXX

 

Using the roman numeral for 30, you can't help but think what this expansion would include. But I would keep things R rated and just go for new player figures (all woman) and add in my city tiles but with these special strips called "back alleys" which allow you to take short cuts through the town by going inbetween buildings on tiles. 

This would make the game go a little faster and help others who end up on the wrong side of town after all the tiles are placed. The cards will feature "girl power" and I think female fans of the game would appreciate that. 

I'd also create a few 3D building stand ups so that you can have battles on the rooftops as well, which would give the expansion a special impact that every 10th one should. 

Zombies!!! 29 Disco of the Dead

 You  make your way into a night club but it turns out it's infested with Zombies. (of course) The players mission is to stop the music from playing and get the zombies to disperse around you for some (temporary) peace and quiet. 

You would have special zombies like a Disco or Rave version along with the regular ones from the base game. 

Cards would include jokes on dance moves, platform shoes and glow sticks. Again, I can see this one being fun!

Zombies!!! 28 Playground of the Dead

 In this expansion players will have to run through the park to their next destination. But here they will encounter girl zombie figures which (just like the boy figures from 9) can be on the same square as an adult zombie. You could also combine the boy zombies from 9 into this expansion as well if you wanted. 

Tiles would include a playground, playing field, jogging path and water fountain. Plus I'd also make available a good ole "Bag-o-Zombie-Kids" you could buy separately and add to your game at any time, since the never reprinted the boy zombies from the past expansion. 

Zombies!!! 27: Dead in Sin

 

After all the mayhem and death, the players seek refuge in the church. But it's infected too. The goal of the expansion is to clear the church out of all zombies before it's too late. 

Besides the worship hall, you can fight in Sunday School rooms, church offices, rec room, etc. Imagine it's one of those "Mega" churches. This game would be tough because there'd be lots of zombies inside. However you will get help in the form on "Angel" cards which will give you one time uses in the game. May even add some Guardian Angel figures to boot. I almost made this expansion myself once a while back but got too busy to work on it. 

Though I think it'd be great!

Zombies!!! 26: Dead Cold

 

One of the earlier expansions went out into the desert so I thought "What about the artic?" So in this expansion, that's exactly where you go to seek refuge from the zombies invasion. Sadly, it's up there too. Zombie Polar Bears, Penguins, seals and even the Abominable Snowman hinder your quest for peace as you trek through the frozen tundra. 

You could also have weapons such as an icicle or a hard snowball to aid you in your fight. Plus, just like you needed water in the desert perhaps here you need to stay warm with a fire every so often to resist being frozen alive!

This expansion has potential.  

Zombies!!! 25: Rocky Mountain Die

 

Congratulations, you made it to the top of the Rocky Mountains to escape the zombie plagued world, problem is...they're up there too. 

In this expansion players will be "climbing" the tiles up to the peak and fighting zombies along the way. The goal is to be the first one to the top and receive helicopter rescue, which hasn't been done in several expansions before. 

I think the aspect of "climbing" the tiles would be a good enough spin for fans to not think of it as another "same old, same old" expansion. 

Can't wait to show you more tomorrow!

Zombies!!! 24 Time to Die

 I imagine the 24th expansion to be like a scenario expansion. Where you have a goal you need to complete using various previous expansions that were released. You get new "Jack Baur" looking player figures, a few extra weapon cards and tiles to help set up the rules for each scenario. 

I nice wink at pop culture and something Zombies!!! fans would appreciate since the last scenario box came out 12 expansions earlier. 

One more to go today! 

Zombies!!! 23 Voodoo Zombie

 Our players travel down south to New Orleans but encounter a new type of zombie due to voodoo magic! Similar to the Salem expansion, they must once again stop the evil voodoo priestess' from taking control of the zombies!

This one would have a Mardi Gras theme to it and would have tiles representing placing around the city. Since the voodoo lore is so strong there's a cool historical part to this expansion as well I think.  

Zombies!!! 22 Season of the Witch

 Thought I'd do a play on the title that matches the 3rd Halloween movie. In this expansion, the players travel to Salem, MA to fight the zombie hoard only to encounter witches as well! Witch figures, spell and magic broom cards will give special abilities in the game. 

But watch out! The witches aren't your friends either and you have to stop their plot of controlling the zombies for their own personal power play to rule the world!

In a world where Zombies exsist....why not witches too??

Zombies!!! 21 Dead Ball

 The next expansion I'd make for the series would revolve around the players entering a giant sports complex where they have to face athletes of all kinds. Baseball, football, basketball and hockey. New zombie figures and sports themed weapons would be added to the game. 

Being a sports fan, I can think of several witty cards to create for this expansion. It's be a perfect fit to the series! 

Zombies!!! XX

 

In this 20th expansion for zombies I thought why not make the undead faster, like in the remake of Dawn of the Dead. So in this expansion, zombies move 2 spaces each when moved. You also have a new card which is the motorcycle which allows you use to move along a straight line (fighting any zombies you encounter along the way) as one movement point. There is no helipad, just a goal to kill 25 zombies to win. 

I love speed in my game, I think this one would be great. 

But I'm not done yet! Oh no! Still several more to go. See you tomorrow with more!