Home for the Holidays: Northern Sky keeps tradition going with new cast

Holiday tunes of old and new, along with a heavy dose of wit, are part of Northern Sky Theater’s repertoire for its ninth annual “Home for the Holidays” concert show at the Old Gibraltar Town Hall from Dec. 26 – 31.

This year’s show was conceived by Northern Sky Theater co-founder Doc Heide, singer and actress Amy Chaffee, and Craig Konowalski – a trio of friends who met during their time with Northern Sky’s predecessor troupe, the Heritage Ensemble (co-founded by Konowalski).

Doc Heide

As in year’s past, the show will be a blend of holiday classics and originals (played on guitar, electric bass and cajón) that reflect each of the writer’s talents and interests. For Amy, that goes back to the jazz classics (Ella Fitzgerald’s “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?” is on the docket) and for Craig and Doc, plenty of originals.

“I’ve written a new Christmas carol, a serious carol, called ‘Go Forth In Love,’ I’ve never written a Christmas carol before but I thought it’d be fun to do,” Doc said. “Then I wrote another humorous thing, it’s a post-Christmas prayer thanking the good Lord for getting us through the holiday without typical disasters that many families suffer over the holidays like inappropriate relatives and so on.”

The cast will also pay tribute to the late David Peterson, founder of the Heritage Ensemble, by performing ‘The Cherry-Tree Carol,’ a piece from a show of Wisconsin’s historic folk carols that Peterson put together for PBS.

But it wouldn’t be a Northern Sky Theater performance without a spoof on modern life. For this show, Doc has written six presidential campaign parodies to the tunes of famous Christmas carols, such as “The Ben Carson Song,” sung to the tune of “Away In A Manger.”

Away off in Iowa, by fields of light.

Republican voters have gathered tonight.

Though most of his rivals are red-faced with rage.

Dr. Ben Carson’s asleep on the stage.

“We have ones for Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and the one about Donald Trump is to the tune of ‘The Little Drummer Boy,’ which you can imagine that goes really well with a trump pum pum pum,” Doc laughed. “We’re trying to do this so people of all political persuasions will enjoy it.”

Performances of “Home for the Holidays” are scheduled for 7pm on Dec. 26 and 4pm on Dec. 28, 29, 30 and 31. Tickets are $22 for adults and $13 for children. Advance tickets are available by calling 920.854.6117, online at NorthernSkyTheater.com, or by stopping in the Northern Sky office, which is located at the Green Gables Shops in north Ephraim. All seats are general admission. Any remaining tickets will be sold at Gibraltar Town Hall beginning 45 minutes before each performance. As a special holiday treat, each show will also feature a drawing for gift certificates from local businesses.