Cascade Needs
Money.....Certainly Not Due to “A Cascade
Christmas”
This past weekend I had the good
fortune and great pleasure to attend the wonderful Christmas show at the
Cascade, "A Cascade Christmas". Having been in the music field as an avocation
for 50 years, I can report that this was one of the best "off Broadway" musicals
I have ever seen. What James Santos and the Redding
Dance Project does each Christmas is
truly magnificent. This show could easily be a Branson headliner or a lead in
for any of the Las
Vegas
shows. This musical dance program with gorgeous and
appropriate costuming features talent that is not only professional in their
performance but is so impressive in terms of how it is presented with "Broadway"
quality sets and settings.
The dancers and
singers, all of them local talent folks, work for months to make this one of the
best shows in the entire North
State
, and it shows. From the opening City
Scene with the women's cast performing over head kicks and ballet type moves to
the full cast Carol of the Bells in full and elaborate costumes, the show moved
through beautiful renditions of the familiar Christmas songs (The Christmas
Song)to excellent solo and small group renditions of Santa music. With the
children, many from local dance schools and dance programs, bringing a new and
refreshing excitement to the overall program, this was just a delightful evening
of wonderful entertainment. The final numbers feature the Dance of the Wooden
Soldiers, and this is perfection at its best. The timing and precision needed in
this very difficult presentation caused the full house audience to rise in
applause in appreciation of what they had just seen. The final Nativity scene
was, as always, very well done and a very fitting evening to this Christmas
tradition.
If you did not
have a chance to join the 9000 folks that were able to see the 2008
presentation, put it on your schedule for next year. James and the Project will
be back and I'm sure it will be as good as this year. This is one Redding
activity that one
cannot miss. It is truly a wonderful show in the beautiful Cascade Theater
setting, where there is not a bad seat. See you at the show
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