Christmas tunes coming to Palmy
Magical night of seasonal cheer promised
Christmas is coming to Palmerston North a few days early this year, thanks to a Christmas concert packed with local talent.
New Stage Production’s Shane Brown says rehearsals are in full swing for Palmerston North’s When Christmas Comes to Town, the last of a four-series production.
“We’ve organised this for Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Palmerston North. Palmerston North is the last show of the schedule, taking place two days before Christmas. There will be a massive Christmas tree on stage, and other trees as well. It’s going to be a magical night.”
There will be plenty of local talent with 130 children taking to the stage in the children’s choir.
“Each show has a choir featuring local kids from the area. We auditioned 240 children from Palmerston North, and 130 were selected. They will be joined by an amazing group of adults and the star of the show, Ryan Little from Lychway Funeral Directors in Palmerston North.”
While the musical is coming to town this year, Brown says he and New Stage Production members Vanessa Coogan and Michael Moran first put the show together over five years ago.
“We wrote this show for a local dance school six years ago. We decided we loved it so much, we wanted to showcase it nationwide, so we put our skills together to bring it to the kids. We rewrote it as a concert, and since then, we’ve been working tirelessly to get it ready, hosting auditions and rehearsing.”
Coogan says the musical features 30 of what she considers to be the best Christmas songs.
“We’ve got Snoopy’s Christmas, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Little Drummer Boy, Jingle Bell Rock and Under the Tree to name a few. There’s so many that will definitely get people into the Christmas spirit.”
She says the musical also gives children a chance to perform on a big stage.
“It builds confidence, and they’ve also become part of a large theatre family. The kids really do lift you up; this musical has been the best job ever.”
Moran says they have plans to run this show next year as well.
“We want it to be twice as big. We love bringing people festive cheer, and also providing children with the experience to be a part of something big.”