Imagine a holiday show that combines "The Nutcracker" and "A Christmas Carol," a child's soaring solo and a world-class orchestra, a soul singer and ballet dancers, with beloved carols and rock n' roll. It's a Christmas party to remember!
Experience everything you love about the season with the Fremont Symphony family, led by Conductor Jung-Ho Pak. The lobby and symphony stage of the beautiful James Logan Center will be transformed for the holiday season, with Santa on hand to greet children and take pictures with young and old. Highlights of Holiday POPS! include:
• The warmth and cheer of classic Christmas carols and popular songs, from "Greensleeves" and "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" to "Winter Wonderland and Sleigh Ride."
• The beauty of five of The Nutcracker's most iconic dances performed to Tchaikovsky's unforgettable music.
• The humor and heartbreak in scenes from Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" brought to life by Actor Neil McGarry from his critically acclaimed solo show. In his first Bay Area appearance, McGarry also will narrate "The Night Before Christmas" to Bill Holcombe's arrangement for orchestra.
• The fun of singing favorite carols along with the orchestra -- loud!
• The excitement of new voices with the symphony debut of two distinctive Bay-Area soloists, lyric tenor Johnny Orenberg and singer/songwriter/guitarist Maxx Cabello, Jr.
• The discovery of a new holiday favorite with the premiere of the orchestral version of "The Marriage of Santa Claus," composed by Fremont Symphony Principal Cellist Dan Reiter. The piece is an ingenious, funny, and lovely musical mash-up of tunes from "Joy to the World" to "Jingle Bells" interwoven with the overture from Mozart's opera "The Marriage of Figaro."
• The soaring beauty of the song "Walking in the Air," from "The Snowman." The 1982 animated movie tells the story of a boy who takes a magical nighttime flight with his snowman.
Holiday POPS! includes five of the most loved dances from Act Two of "The Nutcracker" ballet, performed with the full orchestra. The dancers from Fremont's award-winning studio, Yoko's Dance and Performing Arts Academy, will perform selections from the "Land of the Sweets," including the captivating "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy," the "Russian Dance (Trepak)," the "Chinese Dance," the "Arabian Dance," and the infectious and charming "Waltz of the Flowers."
New to Bay Area audiences, celebrated actor Neil McGarry will perform selections from his touring solo show of Charles Dickens' classic tale "A Christmas Carol. " The show won the 2014 IRNE Award for “Best Solo Performance." This appearance is the final stop of McGarry's 7th tour, which has taken him to England, Switzerland, Germany, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, and Italy. Beverly Creasey of The Boston Arts Review wrote, “McGarry’s performance is extraordinary on many counts but one especially; his characters are all so sincere and innocently drawn, that you give yourself over to the story like a child … a magical alchemy absorbs and involves the audience and holds them spellbound."
In 2019, Maxx Cabello Jr. toured throughout California and Nevada. He has opened for Earth, Wind, and Fire; John Lee Hooker; Dickey Betts of the Allman Brothers; Booker T. & the MG's; Blood, Sweat & Tears; Big Brother & The Holding Co.; Third Eye Blind; Los Lonely Boys; Mr. BB King, and many more. Most recently, he was asked to open for the legendary Bunny Wailer in Jost Van Dyke, British Virgin Islands.
Johnny Orenberg stars as "The Emcee" in "Cabaret," which concludes its run at the Chanticleers Theatre in Castro Valley on November 17th. He also has performed locally in the 2018 Tri-Valley Repertory production of "Guys and Dolls," as well as at Woodminster in Joaquin Miller Park, Oakland, and 42nd St. Moon in San Francisco. Before returning to the Bay Area, Orenberg performed on Disney cruises to the Caribbean and at Disney World in Florida.