”Tis the season for song and merriment. The Mississippi University for Women Department of Music and Theatre will deliver just that with “A Christmas Pudding,” by David Birney, Thursday and Friday, Dec. 3-4. This Christmas celebration told in songs, stories, poems and tales by Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Emily Dickinson, Shakespeare, Shaw, Longfellow, St. Luke and others takes place at 7:30 p.m. nightly in Cromwell Theatre on campus.
MUW students and members of the community come together to present the holiday event, which includes familiar and some not-so-familiar carols and holiday songs and creates an evening to warm hearts, stir memories and inspire laughter.
“”A Christmas Pudding” follows the department”s tradition of a seasonal offering,” said Peppy Biddy, professor and head of the department. The last few years we have presented a Madrigal Feast, which included a full-course meal. In light of the economic climate, we are offering this event (which does not include a meal) for free to the public.”
The Los Angeles Times says, “”A Christmas Pudding” … touches old feelings that speak to the real spirit of Christmas … a Dickensian pudding in the great tradition of surprise and transformation that touches the great spirit … of the season … Wonderful!”
“The event vaguely resembles a program of Lessons and Carols,” said Biddy. “However, instead of the scripture readings that appear in a traditional Lessons and Carols service, there will be readings from some of the world”s most famous authors that relate to Christmas and the holiday season, interspersed with a beautiful selection of Christmas carols.”
Members of the MUW Chamber Singers participating in “A Christmas Pudding” are Kassie Abel, Ruth Brown, Kayla Carter, Lance Cooper, Sylvia Czarnetsky, Chase Dean, Corbett Estes, Lena Figueroa, Diane Gatewood, James Gatewood, Ashley Grothman, Margaret Mary Henry, David Horton, Alex Jenkins, Kelley Ann Jones, Elizabeth Locker, Zane Lynn, Alyssa McElfresh, Joseph Musgrove, Jessica O”Quinn, Kelsey Sample, Karl Schaffenburg, Trevor Shipman, Jami Strickland, and Jessi Tidwell.
Advance tickets to ensure seating may be picked up (limit four per person) at the MUW Fine Arts Center located on Fifth Avenue South on the university campus. For more information, contact the Department of Music and Theatre at 662-329-7260.
Jan Swoope is the Lifestyles Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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