A Very Electric Christmas by Lightwire Theater gets positive review
By Teri Stein
December 26, 2016
1638
Once again the Performing Arts Center at Kent State University Tuscarawas has managed to do two incredible things at once: provide an entertaining show that gets visitors in the Christmas spirit and provide them with an experience never before seen in the area.
A Very Electric Christmas was performed by the Lightwire Theater group on Tuesday, Dec. 13. The group was featured as semifinalists on season seven of the Americas Got Talent television show. They are based in New Orleans and have performed to audiences around the world since their rise to fame.
Described as electroluminescent artistry, the show is performed in complete darkness. It was so awesome. The entire show I found myself wondering how they did it. Later I learned the performers wear suits made from a special wire, powered by batteries that give 360 degrees of glowing light. The dancers can control the suits, turning on and off the lights as needed and even changing the level of the light.
According to the Lightwire Theaters website, they build all their characters from the ground up, utilizing a variety of recyclable materials. Each character takes about 200 hours of labor to construct and must be built to withstand the stresses put upon them by the dancers and use during multiple performances.
The show started with a beautiful green glowing Christmas tree surrounded by three toy soldier dancers wowing the crowd by dancing with candy canes to Jingle Bell Rock. The performers then switched off the lights on their costumes so you could only see the candy canes moving onstage. Too cool! The colors, the light, the music and the movements during the show were wonderful.
During one musical number big glowing green worms wriggled on stage, getting a positive reaction from the crowd. It was so incredible to watch. I thought about how precise the choreography had to be to get the show as perfect and entertaining as it was.
Two extra large mice made their way through the crowd and jumped onstage to the delight of everyone in the crowd. The story then moved to a young bird named Max and his parents as they fly south for the winter. Fierce weather separates Max from his family, and the rest of the story centers around what happens to Max when he arrives at the North Pole. The dancers performed to beloved Christmas music including hits from Nat King Cole, Mariah Carey and Tchaikovsky.
There were very few empty seats as mostly families filled the theater with excited children dressed in their holiday best. Seated nearby were two expert reviewers Madalyn Burky, 8, and her younger sister Sophia, 4 who attended the show with their mother, Shanna Burky, of New Philadelphia. It was Sophias first time to attend a performance at the PAC, and it was a joy to see the excitement she experienced during the show.
At intermission Madalyn said the show was good, and her favorite character was the Rat King even though just prior the Rat King was threatening to put the poor lost little Max into a bird cage.
I asked Sophia if she liked the show, and she jumped up and down and screamed happily. I took that as a yes and another testament to the quality of the diverse entertainment provided at the Performing Arts Center.
