No pictures with this post, because I didn't think to take along the camera last night, but we had such a marvelous time, that I just had to share my thoughts with you. We’re in the Christmas mood after a terrific concert last night. We live out here in the country in northern Indiana, and the closest town to us is across the state line in Michigan. It’s a tiny town, with one stop light, two bars, four churches and one gas station.
Lately it’s been having a changeover from sleepy little farming town to an artsy community. Part of the energy in the change came from one place, the Acorn Theater. Two men from Chicago, with lots of experience in theater, bought an old factory that used to make corset stays out of turkey feathers, and changed part of it into a theater. It’s a good sized stage, a huge Barton pipe organ with pipes hung all around the room, and seating that changes with the shows from some intimate tables and theater seating to all the chairs they can squeeze into the place and it holds about 250. They have all kinds of amazing acts come in to entertain, plus open mike nights, videos and special celebrations that are such fun.
Living nearby are singers with the Chicago Opera Company, and they’ve started doing Opera at the Acorn, a series of Opera based events that bring world class entertainment, out here in the middle of nowhere. Last night was their 5th Annual Christmas show, billed as the Jolliest Christmas Show Ever. They brought along a harpist, classically trained pianist from the Ukraine, a guitarist and a violinist, to accompany the incredible singers.
When we arrived, someone was outdoors roasting chestnuts, grown on their own trees, and handing them out to everyone. It was such fun to see an event like this in a small town, because everyone was there, from the moneyed lady in the full length chinchilla coat, to the teenaged goth girls, in their black hair and lipstick. Hugs everywhere, and everyone visited so that it was tough to move through the theater to our seats. They started with songs from Handel’s Messiah and ended the first part with a sing along of the Halleluiah Chorus, accompanied by the booming organ. They handed out the sheet music, but like most, we can’t follow it, so we just picked a singer we liked, and sang along with that one as best we could. It was a wild musical romp and somehow sounded goosebump-raising great!
After that they took a break, and an older gentleman climbed up onto the seat of the organ wearing a peaked elf hat, and played traditional carols. The second part of the evening was a mix of all the performers favorites, some great, O Holy Night, and I Wonder as I Wander, to the ridiculous, like I Saw Daddy Choking Santa Claus. What fun that was. They ended the night by bringing their three dogs out onto the stage wearing antlers while we all sang along to Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. We feel so lucky to have this kind of crazy, talented people in the area, and glad we can afford to spring for tickets now and then.
Seems like each year, I need a good strong dose of Christmas music to get me jump-started in the holiday mood. That sure did it. I'm in the mood now, and think I'll probably get those presents wrapped today. Merry Christmas, and God Bless us All!
3 comments:
A Merry Christmas to you too! Our village could do with a bit of that kind of livening up -I am taking your advice and trying to enjoy my unintended snow-holidays. We are forecast rain and normal temperatures next week, hooray!!
What a lovely post! Thank you for sharing that. :) Our little community is blessed with a HUGE concentration of artists, too, and there's a Christmas concert each year on the first Sunday & Monday of December. It's mostly based on Handel's 'The Messiah' (which I love) but has taken more of a churchy turn these last years. (It could do with some of the FUN stuff from yours!) Still, it is WONDERFUL to see everyone out together, and the last song of the night is always the Hallelujah chorus, to which everyone stands and sings along. I get it. :)
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