GREENFIELD — Performers from around Hancock County brought their best Christmas spirit for the “Christmas at the Ricks” variety show over the weekend.
“It’s kind of a countywide variety show,” Friends of the Theater board treasurer Debbie Wilkerson said. She is also the owner of Wilkerson Dance Studio, which performed several numbers at the show.
“We wanted instrumental, we wanted vocal, we wanted other kinds of entertainment. We used a lot of these groups last year, and it seemed to be a good fit, so a lot of these performers are returning from last year.”
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Other performers at the variety show, held at the Ricks Centre for the Arts, included Brandywine Wind jazz band; Mt. Vernon High School’s a capella group Locked Out; Hearts Ablaze cloggers; and Ring handchime choir. Friends of the Theater board members Noelle Russell and Amy Studabaker also joined Brandywine Wind and singer Anita Workman for a performance of a Christmas medley.
The event attracted a large audience, who could also enjoy drinks from Griggsby’s Station and cookies from Butterchip Bakery. Before the show and during intermission, families could take photos with Santa Claus on stage.
The show was the conclusion of the 2019 season for the Friends of the Theater, which recently reached the funding goal of its first capital campaign to restore the Ricks’ aging marquee.
Wilkerson Dance Studio pupils and instructors performed several numbers, including the upbeat “Man with the Bag” and “Jingle Bell Rock” and the more reflective “Mary, Did You Know?”
“It’s been fun preparing for this,” instructor Morgan Johnson said. “This is my first year doing Christmas at the Ricks, and it’s exciting.”
Johnson said the dancers had been preparing for the holiday performance since Halloween.
“They are a good little group and they have all the energy in the world, so it’s nothing they can’t handle,” Johnson said.
Younger students performed in the jazzy “Jingle Bell Rock” number and said they were excited to show in front of such a large audience.
“We’ve been working really hard on this dance, and I’m really glad that we got this far so that we got chosen for the Ricks theater,” dancer Willa Crouch said.
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