Utah Lyric Opera invites you to travel back in time for a “Retro” Christmas! Fictitious Provo radio station, KULO presents, “Singing the Stories of Christmas,” an evening of tried and true Christmas stories, traditional carols, and popular songs, hot off the 1951 “Hit Parade” charts!
“Singing the Stories of Christmas” is a departure from the “opera” and “classic” fare that Utah Lyric Opera usually serves its audience. With “Singing the Stories of Christmas,” ULO produces a more intimate show, all in English, that features our own Utah talent.
“It’s sort of a “mash up” of a Storytelling Festival, and a “jive” 1950s Radio Show,” says Marc Reynolds, Associate Director. “Our Executive Director wanted to write a classic Christmas show that would feature some of our best Utah talent, but in a way not usually seen…that’s why it takes place in a small radio station in 1951.”
Also new to Utah Lyric Opera is the venue for this production, St. Mary’s Episcopal Church in downtown Provo. “We wanted to be able to play the show in a more intimate space,” remarked Elizabeth Hansen, ULO’s award-winning Executive Director, and writer and director of “Singing the Stories of Christmas.” “St. Mary’s is the perfect place for an intimate show like this, AND we can also present four performances, which we’ve never had the luxury to do in the past.”
Featured performers are Korianne Orton-Johnson, Kelsey Mariner and Amanda Kasperian as the “Singer Sisters,” a tight-harmonied “Andrew Sisters-like” trio; Scott McDonald as the show’s “announcer;” and local storytellers, Wendy Gourley and Lora Schmidt, who have performed at the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival.
Audiences can look forward to hearing traditional carols like, “I Wonder As I Wander,” “O Come, O Come, Emanuel,” “Silent Night” and more, along with swinging renditions of “Jingle Bells,” “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas,” “Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town,” in tight three-part harmony, as well as an audience “Sing-a-Long” and much, much more!
Utah Lyric’s “Singing the Stories of Christmas” performances will be December 15, 16, 17 & 19 at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, 50 West 200 North in Provo. The show begins at 7:30 PM. General Admission Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Tickets go on sale Tuesday, November 22 and can be purchased online at SmithsTix.com http://smithstix.com/profiles/profile/17287/uathlyricopera or at any SmithsTix location.