It was a truly memorable, old-fashioned Christmas show at Cobble Hill Hall on Sunday, Dec. 9.
The choral group Brenda’s Brats quarterbacked the production, which included everything from humour to tap dancing to traditional Christmas music.
Elly Hamilton sang ‘I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas’ to open the show, followed by Ken Hiles, who presented ‘How Great Thou Art’ and ‘The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)’.
The afternoon presented lots of fun, starting with the comedy duo of Bernie and Sadie (Keeven and Rose Phillips), who sang about ‘The Trials and Tribulations of the Xmas Season’, which told, hilariously, of their lack of enthusiasm for fighting their way around the stores to make their seasonal purchases.
The show progressed with four-handed piano duets, songs, and even some tap dancing to ‘Blue Christmas’.
Cellist Trisha Daniell and pianist Rykie Avenant then combined for haunting presentations of ‘What Child Is This’ and ‘O Come, O Come Emmanuel’.
They were followed by Homemade Jam, a lively group who had the crowd singing with them in a mash-up of ‘Amen’ and ‘Go Tell It on the Mountain’. They were then joined by guitarist, Tom, and sang the beautiful John Lennon song, ‘So This is Christmas’ again accompanied by the audience.
Brenda’s Brats then stepped up with some Christmas music, ending with their own rendition of ‘O Holy Night’.
For something completely different, there was The Huckleberry Holler ukulele band, and friends, who played holiday numbers, including ‘Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree’. It was the first time on stage for a few of these performers, and they all got a warm round of applause.
A six-member group called Christmas connection wound up the stage show with ‘Santa, I Ain’t Good But I’m Tryin’, which was penned by one of their number.
Finally, emcee Cliff Braaten divided the entire audience into 12 parts and got everyone singing ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’ with hilarious results, sending everyone off to enjoy the refreshments and then homeward with smiles on their faces.
