Christmas came early this year for 13 girls who live in the South Hills.

Since early October, the girls, between the ages of 6 and 13, have been rehearsing "Madeline's Christmas," a holiday musical set to open Sunday at Little Lake Theater in North Strabane. The musical's story focuses on the holiday adventures of a dozen girls who live in a boarding school in Paris.

"At the beginning of October, the show put me in a festival mood and I began wondering what gift I'd like for Christmas," said Morgan Wangler, 13, of Upper St. Clair, who's tackling the role of Simone, one of the older girls in the school.

Morgan, who had never seen the show live, rented the DVD version of "Madeline's Christmas" to get acquainted with the music. Fresh from the acting summer camp at Little Lake, she'll solo in the song "Achoo," an appropriate melody for the cast, half of which were struck down with bouts of flu over a three-week period soon after rehearsals began.

"First one girl came down with the flu, which made everyone nervous," Morgan said. "Then one of the rehearsals was canceled when four of us called in sick the same day."

She missed four rehearsal sessions herself.

Things got even worse. The lead, Carly DeCock, 10, of Upper St. Clair, came down with the swine flu and spent three nights in the intensive care unit at Children's Hospital.

"I'm not sure that we'd had more than two rehearsals with the entire cast together at the same time during that period," said Sonny Disney Fitchett, director. "But the good news is that everyone is now back on the road to good health."

The play is an adaptation of the 1956 story, published as a book in 1985, by Ludwig Bemelmans.

Tracy DeCock, Carly's mother, read an ad saying that Little Lake was holding auditions for the musical and immediately told her daughter.

"I really didn't think I'd get the lead because all the other girls are so very talented," Carly said. "My Dad told me to be glad just to get a part, but when I found out I'd been chosen to play Madeline, I said 'Oh my gosh, I can't believe it.' "

She bested almost 100 other girls in the tryouts.

"Carly has the sparkle, the presence and a beautiful voice," said Mrs. Disney Fitchett. "She stood out from the crowd, and that's what the character, Madeline, does."

For the past five and a half years, the young singer-actress has been taking voice lessons from vocalist and teacher Lesli Kotloski of Bethel Park. Although she'll be making her Little Lake debut, Carly previously performed with the Bethel Park Heritage Players and participated in this year's CLO Summer Camp.

"In rehearsing the role, the easiest task for me seems to be getting the correct expression on my face, but the hardest thing is learning all my lines," she said.

She said her young castmates are very supportive.

"We help one another a lot," she said. "Through the play, I'm making new friends and hope to be able to work with them again."

Not counting the time the cast spent with the flu, the actors have been rehearsing three hours a day, five days a week. Carly admitted that rehearsals have cut a bit into her homework but haven't affected her grades.

"The lead role is a new thing for Carly, but we've reminded her that school comes first and we expect her to do her homework," said her father, Gary.

Jay Breckenridge of Mt. Lebanon is only one of two males in the cast of 17. A teacher of theater at Penn State Greater Allegheny in McKeesport, he's playing the role of the rug merchant, who sells the girls magic carpets on which they can fly home for the holidays.

"Rehearsing the show has been great fun," he said. "The girls have great energy and poise and really know their stuff."

The curtain goes up on "Madeline" at 1:30 p.m. Sunday and continues each weekend through Dec. 20.

Tickets are $14 or $12 for children 15 and younger. For more, call 724-745-6300.

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