Holiday entertainment profiles

By Melissa Mixon Friday, 20 November 2009

LEANDER — The holidays offer more than just good family time and good food: They also bring good entertainment. Several organizations and clubs in the area boast a good lineup when it comes to Christmas musicals, plays or festivals. Below are just a few of the ones that can be found in or near Leander and Cedar Park. The events will help set the mood for this year’s holiday season and can be enjoyed with friends and family.

Williamson County Symphony Orchestra

Now entering its eighth season, the Williamson County Symphony Orchestra performs an eclectic selection of pieces including symphonies by Beethoven, film scores by composer John Williams and classic holiday music. The 85 members of the all-volunteer ensemble come from equally diverse backgrounds: teachers, students and business professionals.

This holiday season, the orchestra will perform three concerts in December featuring everything from traditional holiday pieces, such as “I’ll be home for Christmas,” to the Luciano Pavarotti classic “Nessun Dorma.”

Board President John Gordon said the orchestra will play 14 pieces during the Christmas concerts.

“It’s a pops-type concert. We don’t play any really long pieces so we’ll probably tickle [the audience’s] sensibilities on at least six or eight or 10 of the pieces,” he said.

Perfomances are:

Dec. 11 • 7:30 p.m. • Sun City Ballroom, 2 Texas Drive in Georgetown. Tickets are $10.

Dec. 12 • 7:30 p.m. • Hutto ISD Performing Arts Center, 101 FM 685, in Hutto. Event is free.

A Dec. 5 concert was scheduled at Fort Hood at press time.

Visit www.williamsoncountysymphonyorchestra.org

Way Off Broadway Community Players — Leander

When a group of British townswomen get together to put on their version of “A Christmas Carol,” they find that the Dickens’ classic turns into a hysterical mess.

At least, that is the plot of the Way Off Broadway Community Players holiday play planned for December.

The nonprofit theater group, now in its 13th season, will run the “Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen’s Guild Dramatic Society’s Production of ‘A Christmas Carol’” performance Dec. 4-19.

“The guild decides to put their version of ‘A Christmas Carol’ on and, in the usual British fashion, everything that can go wrong does,” said Skip Dunnett, a board member. “We decided perhaps everyone needed a little laugh this season.”

The cast is made up of volunteers.

The play runs Dec. 4-19, every Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., with a Sunday, Dec. 13 performance at 3 p.m. Adults pay $15, seniors/students $12 and children $8.

Old Tyme Christmas — Bertram

An event that takes you back in time is the Old Tyme Christmas in Bertram.

This free event takes place each year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and has a costume contest, where participants dress as people from the 1800s. The event also features live music and free events for children, including pony rides and face painting.

The city and Bertram’s chamber of commerce started the event eight years ago, partly as a way to celebrate the holidays and partly as a way to give travelers on the Austin Steam Train something to do when they passed through the town.

“They’d been coming to Bertram, but they didn’t stay very long,” said Polly Krenek, city secretary for Bertram. “They may stay 15 minutes, but with this they come and stay an hour to two hours.”

The 1800s costume contest is one of the highlights of the event and has categories for children, men and women. Cash prizes are awarded to winners of the contest, which starts at 2 p.m.

The event, located at 100 Vaughn St., is Nov. 29 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call 355–2197 or visit www.bertramtx.org/7452364_73762.htm

Main Street Bethlehem — Burnet

Every December, Main Street in Burnet transforms into biblical Bethlehem, just as it would have looked on the night of Jesus’ birth.

More than 120 volunteers—most of whom are with the event’s sponsor, First Baptist Church in Burnet—dress up as biblical characters to create the town, which is complete with a brass merchant, a replica of a traditional Jewish family home and synagogue, a tavern, a basket weaver and even a tax collector.

The display uses live animals, including camels, donkeys and sheep.

The event, known as Main Street Bethlehem, is now in its 16th year and has gained such a following that people have traveled from all over Texas and even outside of the state to see it, said Chick Wood, a spokeswoman for the event and a longtime volunteer.

Last year, 27,000 went through the live display that takes place the first two weekends of December, Wood said.

Guests walk through the replicated city, which ends at a cave where volunteers act as Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus.

“A number of people come back year after year and say, ‘This starts our Christmas,’” Wood said.

The display is at Washington Street (one block south of Hwy. 29) and Vanderveer Street.

Call 756-6033 or visit www.fbcburnet.org/mainstreetbethlehem.htm. Hours are Dec. 4-6 and Dec. 11-13, 6-9 p.m. each night. The event is free, but donations are welcome.