Sheila McCarthy and David Rogers return with second-annual A Stratford Christmas variety show

Sheila McCarthy and David Rogers are returning to the Festival Theatre stage Dec. 14 for the second annual A Stratford Christmas variety show.

After the success of last year’s A Stratford Christmas variety show in support of the Stratford Arts and Culture Collective (SACC), hosts Sheila McCarthy and David Rogers are returning this holiday season with an eclectic lineup of returning and new performers.

Described as an enchanting holiday concert filled with music, community spirit and festive cheer, this one-show-only event will take place at Stratford’s Festival Theatre on Dec. 14 at 2 p.m., offering audiences of all ages a way to celebrate the season together.

“It was way too much fun,” McCarthy said about co-hosting last year’s A Stratford Christmas. “I had so much fun with David Rogers. We were kind of flying by the seat of our pants and I hope the same thing happens this year. It’s an afternoon of joy and love, and people just loving listening to the incredible singers and the incredible music. We have dancers and there are some nice, big surprises coming this year. It really is one of those nights that kicks off the Christmas spirit for everybody.”

“My favourite part of hosting is just the audience reaction, how much they loved just the whole experience and the variety of all the different performers,” Rogers added. “We hadn’t seen a lot of the singers actually doing their thing on stage, so we were as impressed as the audience. Being able to host something like that and coming on and saying, ‘Oh my goodness, what was that?’ We were genuinely moved by all the performers, so I think that was my highlight.”

For this year’s show, the lineup features returning performers including singer and actress Ma-Anne Dionisio, fiddler Jesse Grandmont, Stratford Festival favourites Monique Lund and Marcus Nance, performer and recording artist Michael Vanhevel, the Stratford Concert Choir, and Stratford singer-songwriters Dayna Manning and Hannah Thomas – the latter of whom is known locally for her Dock Music performances on Lake Victoria in the summer.

Also joining the cast this year are four performers anyone familiar with Victoria Playhouse’s annual Starlight Christmas show will recognize: Luciano DeCiocco, Christopher Dunham, Elena Howard Scott and Callandra Dendias.

The show, which organizers hope will become an annual tradition in Stratford similar to Starlight Christmas, is presented by the SACC in partnership with D2 Entertainment. In addition to raising money in support of the SACC’s mission to establish a dedicated space for the performing arts in Stratford’s Grand Trunk Community Hub, a portion of the proceeds will also go to The Local Community Food Centre’s $750,000 My Community Includes The Local fundraising campaign.

“All of our fundraising efforts over the last seven years are helping us towards our goal to work with other local organizations to create a community-based performance space at the Grand Trunk site,” SACC co-founder and director Chris Leberg said. “ … We have a feasibility study we have out right now to our local organizations to find out what their needs are, what they have, what they’re looking for in the future. When we pull all of that together in March, we will be able to go forward to the Grand Trunk committee, to the other organizations in town we’re hoping to partner with and say, ‘Ok, we’re ready. Let’s start talking about how we make this happen.’ ”

The unifying vision for this performance space is to provide an affordable and well-equipped option for community arts groups to share their work in a variety of traditional and non-traditional media. The SACC’s goal is to serve the Stratford community first while generating tourism in the shoulder and off seasons as a secondary goal.

For more information and to purchase tickets for A Stratford Christmas, visit www.stratfordfestival.ca/WhatsOn/PlaysAndEvents/LeasedEvents/Christmas. For more information on the SACC, visit www.stratfordacc.com.