Towngate Theatre presents “The Homecoming: A Christmas Story”

“The Homecoming: A Christmas Story” comes to the Towngate stage as part of the children’s theater season.

Shows take place at 7pm December 11 & 12; 3pm December 13 & 14.

Tickets are $15/$13 OI Members/$10 kids 13 and under
*Special ticket price for Thursday December 11: $8 all seats

Sponsored by the Helen J. Prince Foundation.

Get Tickets

Purchase tickets online or call 304-242-7700.

Towngate Flex Ticket Subscriptions can be purchased online or by calling 304-242-7700.

About the Play

“The Homecoming: A Christmas Story” takes place against the backdrop of the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, during the Great Depression. It is Christmas Eve and, as a snowstorm thrashes the land, a family anxiously awaits the return of their father who is late returning home from work. While brothers and sisters, mother, and grandparents keep vigil, a young man goes in search of his father, encountering various community members and facing challenges as he braves the snowstorm.

This heartwarming tale is ultimately about family strength, hopeful optimism, resilience, and healing during tough times.

“The Homecoming: A Christmas Story,” was the pilot movie for “The Waltons,” which first aired on television in 1972.

2025-26 Children’s Theater Season at Towngate

“12 Dancing Princesses” Ballet
3pm & 7pm Sunday, October 12
7pm Saturday, October 18
3pm & 7pm Sunday, October 19

“The Homecoming: A Christmas Story”
7pm December 11 & 12; 3pm December 13 & 14

“The Nutcracker”
7pm December 18 & 19; 3pm & 7pm Sunday, December 21

Rodgers & Hammerstein’s “Cinderella”
8pm March 6, 7, 13, 14; 3pm March 8

Experience the Magic of Children’s Theater…

Want to boost literacy? Teach your child to imagine the unimaginable? Cultivate curiosity? Go to the theater, and bring your kids.

Plays ignite the imagination and bring stories to life. Words and characters jump from the page to the stage, thus connecting children to the importance of reading. They learn valuable lessons, too. Theater teaches skills such as empathy, critical thinking and teamwork. Kids watch the actors working together onstage. They see that REAL people are behind entertainment and realize performers are not just images on TV or computer screens. Live action happens right before their eyes. There’s no app for that! All their senses are engaged “in the moment.”  Nothing can be paused or muted.  Some may even discover the actor, director or writer within themselves. Most of all, you get to spend quality time as a family. Theater is a social experience meant to be shared with one another. So, gather the kids, go to Towngate and experience the magic of theater together.

Keeping the Community in Community Theater in Wheeling. . .

Located in Wheeling’s historic Centre Market District, Towngate is a cornerstone of creative life in Wheeling and serves as an entertainment destination for residents of the Ohio Valley and beyond. People of all ages and backgrounds gather here to create and experience art onstage. Most of all, Towngate celebrates the essential power of theater to illuminate our common humanity. The community enjoys and participates in hundreds of live performances, classes and workshops year-round.