For a number of years, the Theatre Guild of Ancon had been staging annual Christmas plays, usually family oriented lighter fare. These were generally well attended.
On December 4 there was also a full house for the Guild’s “Peace in the World” show, so in that sense all was ordinary. However, in several other respects it was a break from the norms of the past several years.
This year’s Christmas event was a musical presentation, produced by guild veteran Gale Cellucci and directed by Joan Manfredo, both of whom have been directing most of their efforts in the community and the Panamanian cultural scene toward institutions other than the Guild for the past few years. In a way, it was as if they had spent the last few years on a recruiting tour for the Theatre Guild, and returned with reinforcements.
(Let me not, however, be misunderstood to denigrate the year that Manfredo presided over the Teatro En Circulo, or the time that Cellucci has spent with Casa de Mausi, or the many other things that both have done in the community --- those efforts are worthy in their own rights and stand on their own merits, without reference to the Theatre Guild of Ancon.)
In any case, what we saw was a display of onstage talent that was mostly new to the little theater next to the PTJ and in many cases drawn from social and cultural circles with which the Guild ought to have closer ties. It worked very well. The night was a grand success whether judged by attendance, economics or artistic quality.
The night’s eclectic fare ranged from the sacred to the popular, tastefully skipping the commercial, with presentations of music, dance and comedy.
Everything was good, but the night’s clearly shining star was soprano vocalist Nicole Puga, who, accompanied by Lupe Avila, took the stage twice to perform sacred music in English, Spanish and Latin. Opening the show with “O Come, All Ye Faithful,” she performed a number of other Christmas classics, then later in the night came back for another little set, which included a beautiful rendition of “Ave Maria.”
Also accompanied by Avila, also singing Christmas classics in three languages --- English, Spanish and German --- was Dr. Ricardo Ramos.
But Ramos came after a tap dance routine by girls from the Ballet de Teresa Mann and a solo dance selection from the Nutcracker by ballerina Carla García.
After the dancing came more Christmas music, mostly in Spanish but a little in English and more sacred than popular, by members of the Coro Polifónico under the direction of Electra Castillo.
Then came Dr. Ramos, and after him Nicole Puga again.
Only later in the night did the popular symbol of Christmas, born of American advertising but having long ago taken on a cultural life of his own, make his appearance. Tom Lord played that role --- Santa Claus --- first as a jolly inebriate in Theatre Guild regular Clarita Smith’s twisted bilingual reading of “’Twas the Night Before Christmas.”
Then came young Kristofer Garriot, for a solo saxophone medley of Christmas tunes. (How far along is this musician’s development? It seems that he’s already better than Bill Clinton, but may have a few years of practice yet before he reaches John Coltrane’s level of expertise.)
Finally came Rita Sosa and four girls from the Balboa Academy, who with a little help from Santa Claus and some younger kids, and then from the whole audience, closed out the night’s entertainment with such popular fare as “Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.”
Afterwards, Christmas cookies were served on the front porch.
If the onstage show brought most of the performers to the Ancon Theater for the first time, backstage and in the front office there were the usual suspects --- Gary Stempel helping out behind the bar and Tracey Stempel in the box office, Vernon Skitt designing the lights and Brenda Scott as stage manager, John Carlson doing this and that, Walter Borer minding the treasury, the organization's builders making the set and so on. And while Christmas shows are not always the best indicators of this community organization’s health and direction, still this one has to be cause for cheer among those who have worked so hard, mostly behind the scenes, to keep the flame burning.
Those who are interested in helping the Theatre Guild of Ancon in any way --- in one of the various theatrical arts, on the business side of it or as a benefactor or playbill advertiser --- should contact the 54-year-old institution by sending an email to president John Carlson at jcarlson@cwpanama.net.
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