Holiday show captures emotion of the season

Christmas music is at its best when it captures the varied emotion of the season.

Songs depict the ever-growing excitement over Santa’s arrival. Tunes illustrate the kindness and love that touches people’s lives this time of year. In other selections, the wistfulness and melancholy of Christmases past is inescapable.

The holidays touch people in different ways. As Greenwood’s Stage to Screen assembled a seasonal performance for its cabaret, the goal was to encompass all that Christmas into a timeless show.

“There are songs that people know that they automatically associate with Christmas. There are ones that they’ll really enjoy because they’re more modern day. And we wanted to tap into emotion, so we’ve chosen songs that will approach the sentiment of the season,” said Christopher Tompkins, executive director of Stage to Screen.

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From holiday classics to contemporary favorites, religious hymns and joyous carols, “Holidazzle” brings the best of Christmas together in one performance. The show will capture the nostalgia of the holidays and the joys of Christmas morning through song and dance.

With a carefully curated mix of songs, as well as professional performances from its actors, the show has the potential to be a new kind of Christmas custom.

“I truly see this being a tradition,” Tompkins said. “It’s pretty exciting to say that we have a show that is timeless and we can do year after year, and people won’t tire of it.”

Stage to Screen is a newly formed performing arts complex set in downtown Greenwood. The company formed to offer professional theater shows, which Tompkins says have been lacking on the southside in recent years, in Johnson County. The studio recently started an open-mic comedy night on Sundays called Laugh Sabbath, and “Holidazzle” is the second in the theater’s cabaret series, which will extend into 2019.

“Holidazzle” features a six-member cast, blending young performers and adult actors. Four adults will be taking part in the second Stage to Screen show: Melissa Anness, Brooke Barker, Addison Koeler and Jake McDuffee.

The show is bursting with music, as the structure of the performance fills nearly all two hours with song.

“Musically, it’s very heavy, and the cast has had to work very, very hard to get everything down,” Tompkins said.

When creating the show, Tompkins, musical director Roger Smith and others at Stage and Screen had a trio of goals in mind: focusing on the joy of the season, the sentiment of the season and the child that still lives within all of us.

“We came together and literally spent an afternoon pulling and listening to every kind of Christmas music under the sun, from traditional to country to pop to religious songs,” Tompkins said. “We chose the ones we felt worked the best.”

“Holidazzle” tells the story of Christmas in two different acts, broken up into distinct sections. Audience members will feel the excitement of the season, as well as the romantic air that hangs over the holidays.

One of the unmistakable marks of Christmas is the hope and joy that comes from children. Time seems to pass more slowly as the big day nears, culminating with the excruciating attempt at sleep before Santa shows up.

So a major section of the show will focus on that anticipation, featuring some of the most timeless toys on stage.

“We think of it as our modern-day ‘Nutcracker.’ Our toys come to life. It’s a very fun section on the show,” Tompkins said. “Whether you’re 8 years old or 80 years old, you’ll know what these toys are. They cross the generations.”

Because Christmas is a joyous holiday for many people, much of the show focuses on that aspect. But the season can also be difficult for many, and Tompkins wanted to capture that feeling as well.

Grief and sadness can change how people view Christmas, so those emotions are important to recognize as well.

“As we get older, it does change. Children have grown up, maybe we’ve lost our parents or we’ve lost a loved one. That’s also part of the holiday season. For many of us who have experienced those losses, that’s something we address,” Tompkins said.

The variety of the music and dance in the show is what makes it timeless, Tompkins said. By structuring it the way they did, they hoped to appeal to as many people as possible and touch on all that Christmas is for everyone.

“Our tag on this is, ‘A new annual family tradition.’ For a traditional family with parents, kids, grandparents, it’s something that’s very timeless,” Tompkins said. “But ‘family’ as we know it today for many people who are single is our friends. So it also speaks very clearly to the meaning of the holiday season and those friendships that are so important.”

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Stage to Screen is looking for donations of costumes, musical equipment, volunteers and sponsors to bring their shows to life. To contribute, call (317) 360-2733.

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“Holidazzle”

What: A holiday-themed show blending traditional and contemporary music in a song-and-dance extravaganza.

Where: Stage to Screen, 350 S. Madison St., Greenwood

Showtimes: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday, Dec. 14 and 15; 2:30 p.m. Sunday and Dec. 16.

Tickets: $12.50 to $35

Information: stagetoscreenstudios.com

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