An exciting and electric show lights up the Genesee Theatre for the holidays.
The group Lightwire Theater presents “A Very Electric Christmas” at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 2. It’s one of many holiday shows coming to the area this month.
As seen on season 7 of “America’s Got Talent,” Livewire Theater uses Electroluminescent wire to luminate their performers onstage.
“We try to erase the dancer so when you’re looking at the main character, who’s a baby bird, it’s a baby bird and not someone in black light with a bird costume on,” said Eleanor Carney, who with her husband Ian Carney are the owners/creators of Lightwire Theater.
“This is our holiday show and it is about a family of birds — a mother, a father and a baby — flying south for the winter and they get caught up in a snowstorm. The parents make it home and the baby is stranded in the North Pole. It’s the story of the baby bird getting home for Christmas.”
The Carneys were professional dancers for 20 years and have performed their fair share of “Nutcrackers,” she said, and brought some of that flair into this show.
“We have a battle scene and we like to think of it as taking a battle scene from ‘The Nutctracker’ and it’s sort of a ‘Matrix’-like battle between the bad Rat King and the Good Nutcracker,” she said. “It’s got something for everyone. It’s a fun show.”
It’s a six-person cast and each performer plays at least three or four different parts, she said, including dancing toy soldiers, caroling worms and performing poinsettias.
“As a performer, even when you are not lit up, you’re still doing something,” she said. “It’s very choreographed.”
The holiday show premiered in 2013.
The idea for all shows begins with either a character or a story idea, she said.
“Most of the stories we’ve written together,” she said. “The thing about our medium is, it’s cool. It’s cool to look at. But cool will only get you five to 10 minutes. You have to be invested in the characters and the story if you’re going to do an hour-length show. That’s where I feel our strength is — telling a story.”
She loves the message of this show — wanting to be home for Christmas, she said.
“As performers, my husband and I — this was our big time of year to perform. We always tried to make it home for at least Christmas Day,” she said. “That’s been sort of ingrained in us and I think that’s the underlying message — wanting to be home and be with your family for Christmas. I love the message of the show. As for performers, it’s a fun show to do. It’s got a sweet story.”
She thinks the show is a unique Christmas show with a fun story.
“It has a great message and overall, it’s a fun show the entire family can enjoy.”
Here are more things to enjoy this holiday season.
1. Santa’s Rock ‘N’ Lights: 5-10 p.m. daily Nov. 18-Jan. 1, 2023, at the Lake County Fairgrounds, 1060 E. Peterson Road, Grayslake. Drive-Through tickets: $29.99-$34.99; $7 extra per person if more than six people. Pop-up village tickets: $15.99; children ages 2 and under free. 224-757-5425; santasrocknlights.com.
This drive-through holiday light experience includes 700 feet of tunnel lights, larger-than-life 3D polar bears, reindeers and dinosaurs and thousands of dancing lights synced to holiday music. There is also a pop-up village with lighted displays, ax throwing, a balloon artist, face painting, ornament making, stuffed animal making and free photos with Santa. Enjoy food trucks, adult beverages, free hot chocolate and more from 4:20 to 9:30 p.m. Dec. 3, 10, 16, 17 and 23. Tickets for both must be purchased online.
2. “A Very Electric Christmas” by Lightwire Theater: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 2 at the Genesee Theatre, 203 N. Genesee St., Waukegan. Tickets: $26-$46. 847-263-6300; geneseetheatre.com.
Literally light up the holidays with this group that first entered the spotlight on “America’s Got Talent.” The show is performed in the dark with performers lit up in neon wire. The North Pole comes to life with the story of Max, a baby bird trying to get home for Christmas, set to holiday music from Tchaikovsky, Nat King Cole, Mariah Carey and more.
3. “A Christmas Story:” 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2:30 p.m. Sundays Dec. 2-18 at PM&L Theatre, 877 Main St., Antioch. Tickets: $12-$20. 847-395-3055; pmltheatre.com/seasons/season-60/a-christmas-story.
All 9-year-old Ralphie Parker wants for Christmas in 1940s Northern Indiana is a Red Ryder BB gun, yet he’s thwarted at every turn by his mother, his teacher and even Santa Claus himself. The classic story lovingly comes to life onstage.
4. Dickens of a Holiday: 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Dec. 3 and 10 in downtown Libertyville, Tickets: $50 for the Victorian Tea; free for other events. 847-680-0336; mainstreetlibertyville.org.
The event includes photos with Santa in his sleigh in Cook Park from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. and 1 to 3 p.m. Kids can visit the Children’s Holiday Shoppe at Petranek’s Pharmacy’s community room, where they can buy inexpensive gifts for their family with the help of Santa’s elves. Finally, there will be a proper Victorian Tea from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Libertyville Civic Center.
5. Elf Invasion Pub Crawl: 7 p.m.-bar closes Dec. 3 at 28 Mile Vodka and Distillery, 454 Sheridan Road, Highwood. Tickets: $20. [email protected]; celebratehighwood.org/.
The fourth annual Elf Invasion Pub Crawl invites revelers to blow off some holiday steam and get “elfed” up. The crawl starts at 28 Mile Vodka and Distillery and includes stops at Pazzo di Vino, The Toadstool Pub, La Casa De Isaac Restaurante Mexicano and The Wooden Nickel. Participants are encouraged to register with their friends for one of five departing times. The registration fee gets you a commemorative “Elf Invasion Pub Crawl” cup, troupe necklace and six raffle tickets.
6. Classical Blast presents “Dark Side of the Yule:” 3 p.m. Dec. 4 at Orlin Trapp Auditorium at Waukegan High School’s Brookside Campus, 2325 Brookside Ave., Waukegan. Tickets: $30. 847-281-5209; lakecountyconcerts.org.
Christmas meets rock music when a five-piece orchestra mashes hits by bands like Metallica, Evanescence, Pink Floyd and The Beatles with holiday classics, baroque carols, classical music and originals.
7. Marie Osmond: 8 p.m. Dec. 9 at Genesee Theatre, 203 N. Genesee St., Waukegan. Tickets: $50-$99. 847-263-6300; geneseetheatre.com.
Marie Osmond’s “A Symphonic Christmas Tour” stops at the Genesee to spread Yuletide cheer. Backed by a full orchestra, the legendary singer performs seasonal favorites as well as her own hits.
8. Do-It-Yourself Messiah and Carol Sing-Along: 7 p.m. Dec. 10 at First United Methodist Church, 128 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., Waukegan. Tickets: $10-$20. 847-360-4740; waukeganparks.org/wsocc.
The Waukegan Symphony Orchestra and Concert Chorus perform the Do-It-Yourself Messiah and lead a carol sing-along. A Do-It-Yourself Messiah is a performance of Handel’s Messiah in which the audience participates as the unrehearsed chorus and backs a much-more-rehearsed orchestra and chorus.
9. Sub-Thermal Nightmare winter haunted house: 7-11 p.m. Dec. 16-17 at Dungeon of Doom, 600 29th St., Zion. Tickets: $30-$55. 847-262-3666; dungeonofdoom.com/special-events.
The haunted house has been hit by a freak blizzard and a frozen wasteland leaves everyone fighting for their lives in the raging storm. For two nights, the Halloween attraction will be unrecognizable as hell freezes over; spawning new characters, a unique “Buried Alive” show and rooms transformed into a frozen wasteland.
10. Quentin Road Christmas: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 15-16, 1:30 p.m. and 5 p.m. Dec. 17-18 at Quentin Road Baptist Church, 24126 Quentin Road, Lake Zurich. Tickets: $10-$35; some seats are free. 847-438-4494; qrchristmas.com.
See and hear the story of Jesus’ birth in a new way as you are transported back in time to Bethlehem for the very first Christmas. There will be music, elaborate staging, costumes, live animals and flying angels.
Annie Alleman is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.