Christmas Canteen at the Aurora Theatre

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! One of my very favorite Christmas shows is Christmas Canteen, Gwinnett County’s longest running theatrical holiday tradition at the Aurora Theatre in Lawrenceville, so I was thrilled to be their guest again this year.

It's a true variety show with music, dancing and comedy galore! There is literally something for everyone with a staggering fifty musical numbers! They run the gambit from fun family favorites like Jingle Bells and Santa Claus is Coming to Town to the moving O Holy Night by Bryant Smith and a gospel jubilation of Joy to the World by Terry Henry that had the whole audience clapping!

 I was amazed that so many genres could be included in one show and credit the seamless segues to the brilliant comedy antics of Brandon O'Dell. He was simply hilarious!!  We "decked the halls"  in a Winter Wonderland, moved to Paris to  remember "the last time we saw her" she was C'est Magnifique and enjoyed some high kicking can-can dancing. After  a few unexpected comedy stops in Italy, Mexico (Feliz Navidad), Germany (Oh Tannenbaum) and Ireland(Christmas in Killarney) we ended up back in Paris for a show stopping rendition of Lady Marmalade! We donned our disco leg warmers and visited Jesse's Girl in the 80's. Because we "didn't stop belivin' and "told her about it" we had a "total eclipse of the heart" just before Michael Jackson (Brian Walker) danced his way through a fantastic glow-in-the-dark rendition of Thriller,  Alvin and the Chipmunks serenaded us and the Triplets had us rolling in the floor!! 

After the intermission, a nostalgic I'll Be Seeing You reminded us that many are far away protecting us instead of home with their families for the holidays. The Andrews Sisters showed up for a rowdy GI Jive and a lump-in-your-throat patriotic salute to all past and present military servicemen in the audience through the Armed Forces Medley.

Veteran actors Brandon O’Dell,  Bryant Smith, Randi Garza, Brian Walker, Terry Henry and Liza Jaine make up this amazing cast along with apprentices Ilia Angelene, Luke Georgeclnk and Greg Hunter. The show is directed by Anthony Rodriguez with choreography by Ricardo Aponte and music direction by Ann-Carol Pence. The design team consists of Alan Yeong (costumes), Phil Male (set), Daniel Pope (sound and projections) and Mary Parker (lights). Ann-Carol Pence is at the piano, joined onstage by the Canteen Band with Mark Biering (percussion), Greg Armijo (bass) and Jim Stallings (guitar).

Spreading extra cheer is Aurora’s annual Festival of Trees, supporting the United States Marine Corps Toys for Tots and Gwinnett’s local food banks. More than 25 local businesses are set to join efforts to deck Aurora’s halls with beautifully decorated trees for visitors to enjoy. Theatre goers are encouraged to donate a new, unwrapped toy or non-perishable food item and place them under their favorite tree. The tree with the most gifts underneath it at the end of the festival will be named Best of the Fest. All of the gifts will be donated to the United States Corps Toys for Tots and the food items will go toward the Holtkamp Can Challenge to be delivered to local food banks.

Christmas Canteen 2014 is presented November 20- December 21, 2014. Tickets range from $30-$50 per person and discount matinees on Wednesday, December 17th at 10 a.m. start at $20 per person. Tickets can be purchased online attickets.auroratheatre.com or by calling the Box Office at 678-226-6222.