The Van Wert County Courthouse

Friday, Mar. 29, 2024

Christmas variety this weekend!

If you have yet to get in the Christmas spirit, we have two events guaranteed to move you into the spirit this weekend.

This Saturday night at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center will be perhaps the best Christmas variety show you have experienced since the days when we all gathered around the family TV to watch the Andy Williams Christmas specials. You remember those days, right?  It seems the whole family would enjoy this Christmas tradition on TV together. I miss those days!

Well, this Saturday we are going to bring everything but Andy himself to Van Wert. Unfortunately, Andy Williams passed in 2012, but we still hear his iconic voice everywhere we go at Christmas time. Taking over his Christmas Extravaganza Show is Jimmy Osmond of the Osmond Brothers. A longtime performer and friend of Williams, he now takes this show that was so successful in Branson, Missouri, and modeled after the TV specials, on the road. They will leave Branson and come directly to Van Wert and then make just a couple other stops in the U.S. before heading to Europe with the show.  We are indeed fortunate to have them.

Many of you probably remember how Andy Williams basically introduced the Osmond family to the public back in the late ‘60s. Their appearance on Andy’s Christmas TV special has been shown hundreds of times. It launched the Osmond Brothers career and the rest is history. Another family of singers, The Lennon Sisters, had a similar experience on “The Lawrence Welk Show”. They were a young group of sibling singers, all girls, and had a blend that America fell in love with. Now, the Andy Williams Christmas Extravaganza reunites these two groups to bring Christmas cheer to everyone fortunate enough to attend. Illusionist Rick Thomas Snow will be part of the show, as well as other surprise guests. And don’t be surprised if you still get to see and hear Andy Williams during the show. After all, it is his show!

The show begins at 7:30 p.m. and we are sold out. An outside chance of a seat not getting used is a possibility. You can check with the box office at 419.238.6722.

Although you can bet there will be parts of the Andy Williams Christmas Extravaganza that will mention the “reason for the season,” if you want to really experience the real reason for Christmas, you need to come to First United Methodist Church the following night, this Sunday, December 11, for George Frederick Handel’s Messiah. This presentation begins at 7 p.m. and is free to the public.

Soloists are coming from Perrysburg, Akron, New York City, and Boston and they will be joined by a 17-piece chamber orchestra and a grand 60-voice chorus to bring the message of the birth of Christ into your hearts. Keep checking the media later this week to read more about this performance and its performers.

The Van Wert County Foundation sponsors this traditional biennial performance in cooperation with the First United Methodist Church. There will be a free-will offering taken, but there is no admission charge.  The sanctuary will be open to the public to arrive at 6 p.m. for the performance.

I’m sure I will see you sometime this weekend as we spread the joy of Christmas throughout the Van Wert community and beyond.

FINÉ.

POSTED: 12/07/16 at 8:35 am. FILED UNDER: News