TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Tis the season for hot chocolate, warm fires, and of course, cheesy Hallmark movies. “Twas the Night Before Christmas,” a new Hallmark movie is inspired by the play, “The Trial Before Christmas,” by Duncan Crary and Jack Casey which is based in our very own Collar City.
The Trial Before Christmas Facebook page was kind enough to relay the history of the famous poem, “Twas the Night Before Christmas,” and the upcoming Hallmark movie. The poem first appeared anonymously in the Troy Sentential newspaper in 1823 and the true author has been a mystery since. According to Clement Clarke Moore and the descendants of Henry Livingston, Jr., they both were the original authors, but there can only be one! Crary and Casey thought the same while staging the first mock trial to determine the true poet in the Rensselaer County Courthouse in downtown Troy in 2014.
Troy native Casey, an attorney and novelist states, “Two centuries ago Troy gave this Christmas gift to the world,” “I remember the magic in my children’s eyes as I read it each Christmas Eve, and they imagined a sleigh pulled by reindeer and Santa leaving them toys. If not for a humble Troy newspaper editor, this masterpiece might be collecting dust in some forgotten archive.”
The Hallmark movie, “Twas the Night Before Christmas,” follows two “lawyers” as they argue whether “A Visit from Saint Nick” was authored by Clement Clark Moore or Henry Livingston Jr. and has the audience decide as jury. The film stars Torrey DeVitto, best known for her six-season run on NBC’s “Chicago Med,” and Zane Holtz, a recurring cast member in the CBS’ crime thriller “NCIS.”
Crary, a publicist known for promoting Troy to the world states, “I love that Hallmark leaned into the quirky charisma of our original production,” “This will add a lot of excitement for our city’s connection to this beloved poem as it turns 200 years-old next Christmas.”
“Twas the Night Before Christmas,” premiers December 17 on the Hallmark Channel at 8 p.m. Encore showings include Sunday, December 18, at 6 p.m., Tuesday, December 20, at 10 p.m., Saturday, December 24, at 4 p.m., Thursday, December 29, at 12 a.m., and Sunday, January 1, at 10 a.m. Hallmark Channel movies are also on live TV streaming apps including Peacock and YouTubeTV. To watch the original 2014 mock trial, visit the Christmas Trial website.
