'Christmas Spectactular' Packs Village Theater at Cherry Hill

It wouldn't be Christmas for Lucy Shundoff without visiting to see 's Christmas Spectacular.

"I just like it," she said while standing in the theater lobby Sunday evening with granddaughter Autumn McGuffie. "This is my third year. I like theater and I wanted to come and get into the Christmas spirit."

Shundoff said she usually sees the show with friends, but this year, "I said, 'I've got to bring my granddaughter to this.'" With that, they headed to their seats, ready to be wowed.

The show features about 135 cast members from southeast Michigan who are dancers, singers and gymnasts and who perform a Christmas show designed for all ages. The first five performances of the annual show, now in its seventh year, sold out within two hours this year, according to Tamara and Tim Smola and Erin Kearney, who co-direct the show.

Dawn and David Shrader worked behind the scenes and have since the beginning. Their daughters, Chelsea and Emily, have studied dance at Central City for years, they said. (Chelsea Shrader is now an employee of the dance school.)

"You know, this is not just a recital," David Shrader said. Then he smiled, adding that first-timers are always impressed. "You say, 'Hey, you want to come to my daughter's Christmas dance recital?'" he said, pausing to roll his eyes and mimic gagging while adding in a sarcastic voice "and most people are like, 'Yeah, sure.'

"But they see the show and they're impressed."

Dawn Shrader works in wardrobe, making last-minute fixes on some of the 350 costumes used in the production.

The music ranges from classics such as Carol of the Bells and Toyland to modern-day hip-hop carols. Andrea Dudley led a choir in religious carols interspersed through the show.

The music and dancers keep the show moving at a brisk pace along a story line that changes each year but retains a subplot that sees Santa having what may be the worst Christmas Eve trip of his life, mostly because of a mischievous elf, Ellie, played by Marci Procklington, who also writes the script.

Her comedic role is a great favorite with children and adults, who cheered the loudest when she made her bow after the Sunday afternoon matinee.

"When you're writing for yourself, it's easy," she said of the role, which she's performed for three years. Procklington, of Booklyn, MI, has her own theater but said she loves the .

Her Santa counterpart, Joe Eadie of Ann Arbor, came to the show three years ago, when, according to his biography in the show's program, Santa sent him an urgent e-mail asking for help. "How could I tell Santa no? So, here I am," Eadie wrote. He's also listened to children's wishes at Ann Arbor's Kerrytown and other events.

Support from Canton's business community and the township itself have helped make the Christmas Spectacular a tradition, Tim Smola said.

Putting together the show, which lasts 2 1/2 hours, including intermission, is a yearlong project. Planning builds toward an August audition that draws dancers from Romeo, Brighton, Northville and other communities, the Smolas said.

It's a lot of work and couldn't happen without nearly 100 volunteers, but co-director Eric Kearney said "if we didn't do it, our year wouldn't be the same. It wouldn't be Christmas."

Tamara Smola said it's more than show business – Christmas Spectacular has developed a sense of tradition for some in the community.