At Saint Patrick’s School—back when I was little and it was open—our music classes from the first day of school until December were all about one thing: getting ready for the Christmas Show.

St. Pat’s was a first- through eighth-grade elementary school at the time, and each grade presented a two- or three-song presentation at the annual event. First we’d practice in our classrooms, learning the words and even attempting harmonies as a nun with a portable plug-in organ would pound out holiday songs both secular and spiritual. Once the musical part was mastered (as well as it can be by 50 little kids in uniform), we’d practice our entrances, standing single file shortest to tallest and lining up on risers in the cafeteria, where the smell of yesterday’s mystery meat still hung in the air.

I remember learning the echo parts to “Do You Hear What I Hear?” in fifth grade, and I even had the triangle solo (don’t ask) in the fourth grade presentation of “The Little Drummer Boy.” For some reason, though, the song I remember best was one I haven’t been able to find on iTunes. It began, “Every little girl would like to be the angel on the Christmas tree.” I never heard it after our show that year, but I still remember every word.  

Anyway, my Christmas memories were always connected with those holiday shows, the music and the pageantry of the season. Later, of course, I would feel that spirit surge when I attended my kids’ holiday presentations at Oakview. There was a certain magic watching the same kids, year after year, growing from the can’t-sit-still-but-boy-are-we-cute kindergarteners to the fourth-graders who not only knew all the words but used props while singing (and some even had solos!). One of my complaints about the change to grade-level schooling is this—since Libby left Oakview to go to Red Bank and, now, Greenfields, she has yet to have a holiday show. Sure, she’s in the Spring Sing, but that’s bunch of little kids singing songs. It doesn’t have the magic—the Christmas spirit—that I used to find at the holiday shows.

But I’ll let that go for now, especially because this year Libby is in three holiday shows. For the past month, she and the other members of West Deptford Little Theatre’s Touring Company have been visiting senior centers around the county, presenting their musical Christmas show and handing out cards to the residents.

Libby will also be singing in the chorus of “The Great Christmas Giveaway,” a joint presentation of Holy Angels Parish and West Deptford Little Theatre that focuses on bringing the true spirit of Christmas back to the season. The show, which will be presented in the parish hall at 2 and 7 p.m. Saturday, is a free gift to the community. On Sunday, the group will perform the entire show at the Woodbury Mews for the residents there.

She has also been busy memorizing lines for “The Legacy of Love,” a Christmas presentation by the first- through sixth-graders at Hope Christian Fellowship. The musical, which celebrates the birth of Jesus through the efforts of an elementary school multi-media club, will be presented on Sunday, Dec. 18 at 10 at the church in Woodbury.

Since the season began, we’ve had the opportunity to catch a couple of the professional theatrical productions in the area, both of which are highly recommended if you’re looking for a dose of the holiday spirit. (Added bonus—both shows, though in Camden County venues, feature residents of good old WD!) The Lucky Nickel Theatre Company is in the final weekend of its production of It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Drama at the First Presbyterian Church in Barrington. It’s the story we’ve all known and loved, with some special singing presentations, Bryl Cream commercials and cowbell thrown in for good measure.

WD’s own Nance Reeves is featured as the curmudgeonly Mr. Potter (talk about working against type!) while the adult Mary is played by Ally Cathcart, the daughter of Oakview teacher Wendy Cathcart. Tickets are available online for the final performances tonight and tomorrow afternoon—and believe me, this group really brings the fun!

Friday night, we caught the opening of the Christmas Spectacular at the Ritz Theatre Company in Oaklyn. The production is part play, part night club act, part dance recital with a few magic tricks (emphasis on the tricky) thrown in for good measure. It all adds up to an extravaganza, as Bob Cratchit reminds us throughout the show. The “play” part explores what happens to the Cratchit family (of A Christmas Carol fame) after Scrooge’s transformation. (Here’s a clue—if you thought that old miser kept poor Bob a-hopping, get a load of his encounters with the Artful Dodger, Sherlock Holmes and Captain Jack Sparrow….not to mention his bawdy, pie-making wife.)

Stand out performances by Kumar Dari, co-writer of the show who appears as Bob Cratchit) and Jaclyn Dixon (wife of WD teacher Mark Dixon—what’s with these WD teachers and their theatrical family members?) as Mrs. Cratchit carried the show right where it should be—over the top funny. Between acts, musical numbers and dance presentations kept the action moving. Most notable of these was a breathtaking version of “When My Heart Finds Christmas” by soloist Steven Calakos and a lyrical dance entitled “Mary” by the Center Stage Performance Dance Ensemble. Tickets for this show, which runs this weekend and next, are also available online.

Other shows around the area can be found in the Patch’s Holiday Guide. So this weekend, skip the mall and take the family out for a taste of the Christmas spirit onstage.

(And my disclaimer: yes, Jaclyn Dixon is my sister-in-law, but as my daughter said during the show last night, “Jac’s really good….and I’m not just saying that because she’s my aunt.”)