Christmas present seems far away from a place many Villagers used to call home.
The frosty snow has been replaced by sunlit water. Silent nights turn into chaotic rush hour traffic jams. And too many departed loved ones only visit as ghostly shadows.
Christmas can be a bittersweet time of the season but there is much to cherish and celebrate.
Sue Schuler directed a cast of about 50 Villagers who did just that Friday in a thoughtful, spiritual and joyful holiday program called “Home for Christmas.” It was filled with song, dance and memories.
“We wanted to bring back that sense of home for people in The Villages,” Schuler said after the show. “We didn’t have a lot of time to put this together but we knew we could work something out.”
Watch video from the show:
The show was a last-minute replacement for Questar Productions’ “Christmas Spectacular,” which was held last year and originally scheduled for early December. “Home For Christmas” is not affiliated or associated with Questar.
“We only had about seven weeks to put it together,” Schuler said. “We got the singers and we got the dancers and we wanted it to be special for Christmas.”
It was.
John Rogerson captured the spirit of the season in such moving numbers as “White Christmas,” “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” and a moving, “Mary Did You Know.”
“There’s a warm feeling about Christmas,” Rogerson said. “It’s a time of year when people give instead of take. Those songs capture that feeling, and you wish it could be like that all year long.
“We wanted people here to think about what Christmas was like back home: watching the television shows; gathering with the family for meals and going to church.”
Rogerson said the relatively short rehearsal time gave the show a kind of “spontaneous feeling. We didn’t have much time but once the dancers and singers got together, we worked it out.”
Bill Davis added to the heartfelt atmosphere with “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” a song made famous by Judy Garland in “Meet Me In St. Louis.”
“That song always gets to me and I think it gets to everybody’s heart,” Davis said afterwards. “It has so much meaning.”
Some holiday fun came when Davis, Rogerson and Andy Malinosky teamed up as the Chipmunks on “Christmas Don’t Be Late.” Malinosky then donned his Santa outfit and roamed the aisles of Savannah Center before hitting the stage with some kids as Schuler and her daughter, Jennifer Slayton, belted out “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.”
Mollie McCarthy had more dance moves than a Slinky toy as she tantalized Frank Olive while singing “Santa Baby.” McCarthy came back for a baby doll number “Marshmallow World” as Olive bounced around the stage in a giant marshmallow outfit.
Speaking of outfits, a gang of gingerbread men combined with some cool gingerbread girls on Dance Fusion’s delightful version of “Christmas Cookies.” The Fusion crew had more fun with “Frosty The Snowman but the mood turned serious on “Carol of the Bells.”
Armando Ocampo and Angela Ferrigno teamed for a scary romp on “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch.”
Violet Ray and the Aloha ‘O Ka Hula dancers were in dynamic form on “Mele Kalikimaka” and came back for another rousing number, “Christmas Luau.”
Dance Synergy brought elegant ballet moves and meaning to “Somehwere in My Memory.”
Schuler also added to the emotional impact with such numbers as “A Baby Changes Everything,” and “Christmas Memories.” She teamed with Slayton and McCarthy for a wistful “Light of the Stable.”
The whole cast came out for the finale singing “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.”
