Premiered professionally by the Houston Children's Theatre Festival, with all the charm, pathos, and fragile dreams that immortalized Hans Christian Andersen's story.

An abused child that everyone knows and loves is Hans Christian Andersen's little match girl. Andersen based his three-page tale on his own mother and grandmother, but he didn't give the little girl a name. In the hands of playwright Sidney Berger, the seriousness and the fragile tone of the original story are transferred to the stage. The little girl—named Liesl in this dramatization—is forced by her pitiless father to sell matches on icy, friendless city streets. She burns her matches to keep warm. The pitiful little flames don't warm her body but they illuminate her spirit. The things she has dreamed about but can't have come alive in her dreams as the icy winds claw at her inadequately clothed, frail little body. The audience sees her vision of a brightly decorated Christmas tree surrounded by beautiful toys—a stuffed Panda Bear or two, toy soldiers, dolls...

As in Andersen's story, the little child dies at the end of the play. "But it's a positive ending," Sidney Berger said. "She joins her grandmother in a warm and happy place." The sublety of Liesl's death and the joyful finale will please even the most sensitive and emotional audience members.

The play is written so that it can be staged with spectacular special effects or with only the bare essentials of technical equipment. "Houston playwright Sidney Berger firmly believes there's no reason for plays aimed at younger audiences to be more sugary than the Big Rock Candy Mountain," William Albright, drama critic of the Houston Post, wrote in a preview article about the play. "Berger adapted The Little Match Girl because he felt the standard holiday theatrical fare...needed some new blood." It is a delightful Christmas present for your community, but suitable any time of year.

In addition to the production in Houston, this musical version was also in the process of being staged by the Great Lakes Opera as our playbook was being prepared. Sidney Berger has written two other children's plays, Bird Boy, and Rapunzel.

Greek-born Fanidi wrote musical scores for films and plays, including Mademoiselle from Muleshoe with Pulitzer-Prize winner Paul Zindel and the notable Universal film, The Naked Brigade.The music for The Little Match Girl can be sung by children as well as adults. The upbeat, melodious music is a counterbalance to the serious story.

Also available: The Little Match Girl (1-Act) by Herman Ammann.

"God is acknowledged as a joyful friend of children...A bright and pleasant entertainment for family audiences."—Janice Card, BYU Children's Book Review. "Excellent and tasteful entertainment."—Everett Evans, Houston Chronicle. "Poignant, beautiful adaptation...upbeat, melodious music."—Plays for Children and Young Adults.