<\/p>\n
WEST SPRINGFIELD \u2014 The famous doorbell is no more, and the living room on the other side of the door is no longer there. And, for that matter, there is no door either.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s all part of the changing atmosphere at the Majestic Theater<\/a> for \u201cHome for the Holidays,\u201d a family-friendly production that has become a popular tradition over the years.<\/p>\n The joyful holiday show returns to the West Springfield theater from Dec. 4-21.<\/p>\n Similar in style to nostalgic holiday specials of years past, headlined by Andy Williams and Perry Como, \u201cHome for the Holidays\u201d features Pioneer Valley-based performers from plays and other shows presented at the Majestic. It is co-hosted by singer Ray Guillemette, Jr., who has headlined countless \u201cA Ray of Elvis\u201d sold-out shows at the Majestic; and Ben Ashley, a Majestic favorite who has performed in several hit shows including \u201cMamma Mia\u201d and \u201cBuddy: The Buddy Holly Story.\u201d<\/p>\n Joining Guillemette and Ashley on stage will be singer\/songwriter Madison Curbelo, a 2024 semifinalist on NBC\u2019s \u201cThe Voice,\u201d along with several veteran Majestic performers including Michael Garcia, Christine Greene, Steven Sands, Kait Rankins, Lori Efford, as well as a special appearance by the man in the red suit himself \u2014 Santa Claus. <\/p>\n Myka Plunkett is directing \u201cHome for the Holidays\u201d for the first time.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, we\u2019ve lost the doorbell and we\u2019re not in a living room any longer. We\u2019ve taken the show out to the streets where a big block party is happening for the community. It\u2019s less of a real space but some magical place that brings you inside of a warm memory,\u201d Plunkett said.<\/p>\n The concept is the same as past shows, which featured Guillemette answering the doorbell, inviting his guests in and then chatting and singing some songs. This time around he arrives at the block party first and welcomes others as they arrive.<\/p>\n Majestic Theater\u2019s associate producing director Sue Dziura asked Plunkett to direct the show and she didn\u2019t hesitate.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a great lover of the classic holiday songs and also the modern Christmas tunes. I think we all bring different strengths to every production. I think my strength as a performer is to bring levity and humor to things we know and love. I really wanted to hone in on the sing-along aspect of holiday tunes that have lived in in our hearts and on television and radio for many generations,\u201d Dziura said.<\/p>\n Yet another change, Kyle Langlois is the new musical director for the spirited program. He will be bringing in musicians Jacob Nichols, Cliff Schofer and Don Rovero for the show. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m excited to bring new ideas, voices and sounds to \u2018Home for the Holidays.\u2019 It has been a very collaborative effort with the cast, who are bringing their own thoughts and perspectives to our song choices this year. It\u2019s going to be an amazing show that honors the classics and other holiday songs with some new spins on \u2018Jingle Bell Rock,\u2019 \u2018Feliz Navidad,\u2019 and \u2018Let It Snow,\u2019 Langlois said.<\/p>\n He noted audiences can hear new and old songs from different genres, including the show\u2019s signature song, \u201c(There\u2019s No Place Like) Home for the Holidays,\u201d \u201cPeace on Earth\/Little Drummer Boy\u201d as originally performed by David Bowie and Bing Crosby, \u201cSugar & Booze\u201d from a jazzy Christmas album by Ana Gasteyer, \u201cPut A Little Love in Your Heart\u201d heard in the big screen movie \u201cScrooged,\u201d as well as \u201cWhere Are You Christmas,\u201d and \u201cSanta Tell Me\u201d by pop singer and \u201cWicked\u201d star Ariana Grande, among others. <\/p>\n Rising star Curbelo was asked by Dziura to be a part of this year\u2019s show.<\/p>\n \u201cI did theater when I was a kid but strayed into making pop music, so I haven\u2019t been part of a cast for a long time. When Sue asked me, it was a no brainer to say \u2018yes\u2019 because I hadn\u2019t been involved in a theatrical production like \u2018Home for the Holidays\u2019 for so long. And I I just love Christmas music. So, it was a beautiful opportunity to perform with a wonderful cast, and I love the people at the Majestic. As for the people who come to see the show, it\u2019s a nice thing to do for the holidays and they are going to love it,\u201d Curbelo said.<\/p>\n She will be singing a pop Christmas tune made famous by Arianna Grande and will have a solo in an ensemble performance of \u201cDo You Hear What I Hear.\u201d She will also share a duet with Steven Sands titled \u201cA Christmas to Remember,\u201d recorded by Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers.<\/p>\n Tickets start at $28 for adults, and $15 for children 10 and under, and are available by visiting or calling the Majestic Theater Box Office at 413-747-7797 during its hours of operation, Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tickets can also be purchased online at majestictheater.com. <\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.masslive.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" WEST SPRINGFIELD \u2014 The famous doorbell is no more, and the living room on the other side of the door is no longer there. And, for that matter, there is no door either. It\u2019s all part of the changing atmosphere at the Majestic Theater for \u201cHome for the Holidays,\u201d a family-friendly production that has become […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2183946","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2183946","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2183946"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2183946\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2183947,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2183946\/revisions\/2183947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2183946"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2183946"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2183946"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}