BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE curtains opened yesterday (Dec. 9) on night one of In the Spirit of Christmas and those who took to the stage enthralled the audience with a variety of performances in the form of songs, dances and the playing of musical instruments.
The event was held at its usual venue in The Circus, Basseterre, where a stage was erected and was graced by a number of soloists and groups, each taking turn to entertain the small but appreciative crowd.
The night kicked off with a trumpet performance of the National Anthem by Dwight Huggins, which was followed by an address by the Minister of Culture, the Hon. Marcella Liburd.
Liburd said that there comes a time when one had to take time to out to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas, which is the birth of Jesus Christ.
"It is a season of sharing and love, a time of feeling extra special about ourselves and the time when we reflect on the year passed and reprioritise and recommit ourselves to be more caring as citizens and residents of this great Federation," she said.
The Soul Band gave an extremely slow but soul-touching performance of ‘Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire’, which saw some members of the audience swaying from side to side in unison with the song.
Another instrumental (saxophone) rendition was given by Larry Inanga, who performed ‘The First Noel’, while Voices of Praise sang an uplifting tune that had the audience rocking in their seats.
Students of the Cotton Thomas Comprehensive School did an excellent dance selection of ‘O Holy Night’, proving once again that having a learning disability does not indicate than one is not gifted, skilled or talented.
Their performance ended in a resounding round of applause from the audience who obviously enjoyed the selection.
As the show neared its end, the performances became greater as did the audience reaction.
Alex Condell gave two saxophone renditions. He took two traditional Christmas carols, added some spice to them and belted out up-tempo tunes to ‘O Holy Night’ and ‘Angels We Have Heard on High’.
In his performance of the former carol, Condell stopped singing just as the first verse was about to end so that he could adjust the microphone. However, this short break did not offend the audience, as they decided to sing along with the band while he rectified the problem.
The Coronets Steel Orchestra played a medley of Christmas carols to which some members of the audience were seen tapping their feet and a number of others were singing. But, just when the crowd thought it was over, the Orchestra brought it a little closer to home and ended with the tune “How Will Santa Get Here’.
This both shocked and excited the audience as some people started dancing along to the sweet music of the steel pans.
The event was hosted by Unoma Allen, who kept the crowd lively and had issued a challenge for one of them to go onstage and give an impromptu performance.
The challenge was accepted by a male who recited a poem entitled ‘In the Spirit of Christmas’, which he claimed was written during the show. It spoke of the annual event in “St. Kitts, Basseterre (SKB)".
An unexpected performance was that of the Africana Graced Crew, a Nigerian group, which sang an African tune that the audience seemed to enjoy although it was rendered in a different language.
The group also sang, in English, ‘O Come All Ye Faithful’, which ended in a rich round of applause from the crowd.
Night one of In the Spirit of Christmas ended with the Soul Band’s renditions of ‘Mary Did You Know’ and ‘Give Love on Christmas Day, which was a very touching moment for the audience.
The audience expressed disappointment when the show came to an end, but was reassured that the excitement continues tonight and tomorrow night(Dec. 11) with performances by the Prison Band, Talented Teens Pageant contestants, National Carnival Queen contestants, National Bank and the Department of Culture, among a host of other acts.
