Christmas Plays and Performances

It's always a good thing when families can enjoy outings together. Attending Christmas plays, performances, and concerts offers wonderful holiday entertainment for all members of the family and provides another way to enjoy the festivities of the Christmas season.

Families usually don't have to venture too far from their home to enjoy a Christmas play or concert. Amateur actors, singers, and budding musicians in their neighborhood will usually take part in several Christmas performances for local residents. These amateur, but entertaining, events can be found at local schools, churches, or at a community theater or performance center.

It's very popular for those groups to stage performances of the Nativity story, or other Christmas related works such as “A Christmas Carol.” Churches and school groups may even have a complete concert series that includes a full-length production of a play along with choirs, soloists, and the band singing Christmas carols and other Christmas songs.

What makes local Christmas performances special is that members of the community, and maybe even of your own household, may be among the entertainers. It is special to see familiar faces doing something interesting and different. For those who are budget-conscious, the performances are usually priced to be very affordable, offering an economic incentive to go out and have an enjoyable afternoon or evening.

Those people who are lovers of the arts, and who are more interested in seeing a professional performance, will likely also have a professional theatrical company within reasonable proximity of their residence. Professional groups may also perform Christmas classics such as “A Christmas Carol,” or they may do another dramatic production from the works of other playwrights.

Music lovers also have a variety of performances to enjoy at Christmas time. While one can often catch various groups singing carols in downtown areas or at malls, there are other places to hear rich, melodious performances of Christmas music. These include concerts by acclaimed or recognized conservatories, orchestras, symphonies, and renowned choir groups. The beauty of hearing Christmas music by these groups is in the accompaniment of instruments and the harmonious blending of voices, which all happens in a venue that has acoustic features to optimize the auditory pleasure of the performances. The different components that make the whole performance offer a richer quality to Christmas songs and carols that may be described as “sounding heavenly.”

Another popular artistic performance that is popular during the Christmas season is classical dance in the form of ballet, and particularly the performance of the “Nutcracker” ballet. With music written by Tchaikovsky, the story is about a young girl who has a dream on Christmas Eve of a Nutcracker Prince and a fierce battle with a Mouse King that has seven heads. After a battle between the Nutcracker, who leads an army of toy soldiers, and the Mouse King, who leads an army of mice, the Nutcracker is captured; but the little girl throws her slipper at the Mouse King, hits him in the head, and kills him. In the end, the Nutcracker turns into a Prince and takes the little girl to the magical and enchanting Land of Snow with dancing snowflakes and the Land of Sweets with the Sugar Plum Fairy.

Attending Christmas plays, concerts or musical performances serves the basic purpose of providing enjoyment, but it can also help young people, and even adults, to develop an appreciation for the arts. Seeing different variations, and the creativity in performances of Christmas plays, as well as hearing different renditions of Christmas songs, can be the first exposure that leads to a lifelong love of the arts and, possibly, a dream to pursue a career in the arts.