INNISFAIL - Jill Cummins came into this year’s production of the Annual Christmas Concert at École John Wilson Elementary School that the longstanding uplifting Christmas spirit is still very much alive and well.
Cummins, the school’s music teacher for the past 12 years, recounted to the Albertan a recent discussion she had with a community citizen who did not have a child attending the school.
“And she said, ‘I'm just not feeling in the Christmas mood; I don't know, no snow or what,” said Cummins. “I said. ‘if you need to feel in the holiday mood, come on over at 6:30 because you just can't leave without feeling that.
“There’s something about children and singing this time of year just puts you right in the mood.”
And that holiday “mood” or Christmas spirit was alive and well at the school’s three separate performances last week for the Annual Christmas Concert, a trio of shows with Cummins as musical director.
But first there was a bit of planning around the weather, which was bitterly cold and nasty last year for the trio of concerts. One had to be cancelled and rolled into another the following evening.
This year’s concerts, scheduled for Dec. 12, 13 and 14, were actually held a week earlier to give Cummins and staff leeway just in case the weather turned ugly.
“If Mother Nature provided the cold weather or storm, then we could bump it to next week,” said Cummins, noting the musical organization this year began earlier than usual, immediately after Hallowe’en.
“We began a little bit at the end of October. We introduced the idea about the puppies, the dog pound and brought in some stuffed animal puppies around the gym and started talking to kids about the concept of the show. We began right away, only because they don't come to music every day. In order to prepare we had to start a little bit earlier.”
Cummins said it was decided to do something a little bit different this year, noting in the past there have been musicals around bugs and moose.
“Yes, just something kids can connect to. It is hard work putting on a show,” she said. “And when they put in all that hard work it's something they can connect to, and then it's a little easier to do all the rehearsals.
“And when they're singing it's just magic.”
And the musical formula for the magic to prove the “Christmas mood” is still very much alive was through a well-known holiday season musical called Arf! On the Housetop.
There is no dog named Arf, but its said in a couple of songs, said Cummins with a chuckle.
“The local dog pound is overcrowded and in an uproar, and one family's trip to the pound on Christmas Eve makes dreams come true for our canine characters,” said Cummins with the musical’s synopsis. “There's a message of sharing and caring as well as canine humour.”
She said this year’s musical choice, which also served as a vehicle for a fundraiser for the SPCA, was inspired by the young’s love for animals and singing.
“I just figured this musical is a perfect fit, and each homeroom class got to be a different breed of dogs,” she said, adding there were Grade 4 actors in the musical. “There is a family, more dogs and of course Santa. The children have just enjoyed the part about the dogs. They just love animals.”
Although most of the musical’s student performers were relatively stationary throughout the 35-minute production, the story-telling pace was rapid with overall performances both riveting and moving in their excitement and devotion for the story around canine characters.
What’s more is that the story and production of the trio of shows, with technical aspects handled professionally and generously by Red Deer’s On the Mark Productions, gave a packed audience huge tangible proof that, yes, Christmas is not only alive in 2023 but will continue to prosper in the years ahead with memories lasting a lifetime.
In fact, Cummins told the Albertan she recently saw some of her former students, who are now all in Grade 11, at the Innisfail Twin Arena.
“And they said, ‘Is it Christmas concert time? I said, ‘it sure is,” said Cummins. “And they said, ‘we sure remember how much fun that was.”
And I thought, ‘ok, that's pretty cool. It's great.’ Students can say, ‘we really remember that,” she said.
“It's just something memorable for them, and I think the theme of the dogs is memorable.”
