The school of fine arts has been working on the 18th annual Festival of Christmas. The festival combines various aspects of choir, dance, theater and band ensembles to tell a story about the “Spirit of Christmas,” the festival’s theme this year.
Click below to hear an interview with Dr. Gary Gerber.
[podcast]https://www.obusignal.com/podcasts/festofchristmas.mp3[/podcast]
A unique aspect added to the show is a children’s choir made up of the children of Ouachita faculty and staff, First Baptist Church and the surrounding community. Two children from the choir are going to play sisters in the main storyline for the show. In the storyline, they are both participants in their church’s Christmas musical program.
“The older sibling is frustrated because she’s always the shepherd in the play, and she wants to be Mary,” said Dr. Gary Gerber, associate professor of music. “She’s got this bad attitude about the church Christmas program.”
The first half of the festival’s storyline is the older sibling talking about the fun parts of Christmas, like opening presents and decorating the Christmas tree. During this part, the ensembles perform music that is secular.
“We do Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and songs like that [during the first half],” said CJ Rice, a third-year choir participant in the show. “The second half is where we do more sacred songs of Christmas.”
It is during the second half of the show that the older sibling realizes the true meaning of Christmas with some help from her little sister.
Some of the musical ensembles have been working on their music for the production since October. However, all of the ensembles will start practicing together the week after Thanksgiving.
“The week right after Thanksgiving we have night rehearsals every night, and those get kind of long and hectic,” Rice said. ““Some people [in the ensembles] aren’t the biggest fans of rehearsals, but it’s fun.”
Their hard work is greatly appreciated when their massive performance comes together on the stage. The Festival of Christmas is a tradition not only for Ouachita, but for people in the surrounding community.
“There are people and church groups that this is their kickoff to their Christmas season,” Gerber said. “They will bring their church bus with 30 or 40 people coming to the show. It’s like an annual event.”
The musical and dance aspects of the fine arts aren’t the only ones working on the Festival of Christmas. The department of visual arts has been working on the programs and artwork for the production.
Performances of the festival are on Dec. 5 and 6 at 7:30 p.m. Also, this year, a special matinée performance has been added Dec. 6 at 2 p.m. due to tickets selling out in previous years. Tickets are $5.
