PORT TOWNSEND — Denise Winter dreamed of a Christmas gift for her town.
She dreamed big. Couldn’t help it, you see: Now Key City Public Theatre’s artistic director, Winter spent six seasons managing the Radio City Christmas Spectacular starring the Rockettes.
Yes, the one in New York City.
After running that high-kicking show from 2000 to 2006, Winter has for the past several Christmases lived happily on the North Olympic Peninsula. And so, serendipitously, has another Manhattan transplant: composer, arranger and pianist Linda Dowdell.
Together, the women have cooked up a recipe for an after-Christmas dessert.
“My Christmas Song for You: A Holiday Spectacular,” starring some 25 singers and players age 5 to 50-plus, will premiere this Wednesday and run through Monday, Dec. 31, at the Key City Playhouse, 419 Washington St.
The Port Townsend High School Glee Club, the Hustle-Bustle Big Band and host David Cunningham will present matinees and evening shows, at 2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. each day, through Dec. 30, plus one last performance at 2:30 p.m. Dec. 31.
“This is totally our own Christmas show,” said Winter.
Dowdell, as musical director, has done special arrangements of holiday songs. Local writers have contributed short pieces about being home or away from home at holiday time.
“My Christmas Song for You” is a showcase of talent across this community, Winter noted. June Moon Stafford, 5, is the smallest singer, while high school and college students including Jessica Reid, Elise Iliff, Jennifer Ewing, Amy Dahlberg, Misha Cassella-Blackburn and Amelia Brummel will also appear. The Hustle Bustle Big Band, meantime, brings together Dowdell on piano, cellist Fred Nussbaum, Darrell Plank on keyboard and Port Townsend High School student John Reid on percussion.
“What I like about it is that we’re giving a different take to [each] song,” said Dowdell.
In addition to arranging “My Christmas Song for You” and playing in the band, she’s shepherdess to the Port Townsend High Glee Club. Dowdell, who has worked with the Mark Morris Dance Group and Mikhail Baryshnikov’s White Oak Dance Project among other ensembles, has been guiding the after-school singing club for about three years now.
The Key City Playhouse holiday spectacular, Dowdell and Winter hope, is a ride through the season’s music — and other pleasures. Songs like “We Need a Little Christmas,” “The 12 Days of Christmas” and “Up on the Housetop” are part of the show, along with Hoagy Carmichael’s “My Christmas Song for You.”
One of Dowdell’s favorite moments comes in jazzman Thad Jones’ blend of “Away in a Manger” and “A Child Is Born,” sung by Ewing, Cassella-Blackburn and Ciel Pope.
“This is a neat way to re-enjoy it,” Dowdell said of the music.
“Hopefully, there will be that one special song that touches your heart.”
And at the top of the second half, Winter promised, the children in the audience will be invited up on stage for a reading of Clement C. Moore’s 1823 poem “Twas the Night before Christmas.”
And while it won’t have the fishnets and sequins of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, “we will have on-stage snow,” Dowdell predicted.
Tickets to “My Christmas Song for You” are $10 for students and $18 to $20 for adults, except for the two shows with family-friendly prices. The first performance at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday and the 7 p.m. show on Thursday are $10 for adults, $7 for children 12 and younger and $3 for kids seated in laps. Then on Sunday, Dec. 30, the
2:30 p.m. matinee is a pay-what-you-wish performance.
For details about “My Christmas Song for You” and other Key City Public Theatre events this season, phone the administrative office at 360-379-0195 or visit www.KeyCityPublicTheatre.org. The Key City Playhouse box office is open from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays at 360-385-5278.
