‘AH WE CHRISTMAS’
Chatoyer Productions, Inc., (CPI) a Brooklyn-based 2022 performing and visual arts non-profit community group, is preparing to stage its second production, a holiday special titled, “Ah We Christmas.”
Vincentian-born, award-winning poet and actress, playwright, songwriter, director and producer Francesca Sam told Caribbean Life over the weekend that the variety show will be staged at the Friends of Crown Heights Educational Center, 671 Prospect Pl., Brooklyn, on Sunday, Dec. 10, from 4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
“I am excited to be producing Ah We Christmas. Christmas is one of the most if not the most anticipated Vincentian-Caribbean holiday,” she said. “The intention is to bring the Christmas spirit to our community.
“Around this time, the inclination to share love and care grows stronger,” Sam added. “’Ah We Christmas’ brings to the stage Christmases from various countries by way of the performances. I am looking forward to the Rhythm section from the Us- Trinidadian performers, the St. Lucian monologue and the comedy piece featuring Miss Bomba Claudie out of Jamaica.
“Chatoyer Productions’ skit on Christmas promises to take us on a path of reminiscing on Christmas preparation,” she continued. “I hope that the audience will appreciate this production and enjoy the items on our Christmas menu.”
Sam said the “Ah We Christmas” variety show comprises two sectors. Part one will consist of Christmas Carols, parang, steelpan, saxophone music, poetry, and a Brooklyn-Trinidad Rhythm Section.
Part two will feature skits, including a performance by St. Lucian Imoya Monroque; US-Jamaican Steven Williams, also known as Miss Bomba Claudi; and a “Foreign-Based Christmas Special” skit written and directed by Sam herself.
Sam said the first Act of this skit is an excerpt from the theatrical play “Foreign-Based”, presented last May 6 and 7.
The latter Act features a Christmas segment featuring Vincentian-Caribbean traditions, “which other Caribbean islanders could identify with,” Sam said.
She said groups of Vincentians in the Diaspora, called “Ah We Serenaders” – which includes Garifuna Indigenous People of St. Vincent and the Grenadines (GIPSVG), Dynamite Calypso Tent, and South Rivers Progressive Organization (SORPO USA) – will serenade the audience.
Sam said Chanique Rogers and Adrian Bailey of the Magma Band would be engaged in directing the serenaders.
The audience would also be invited to participate in Christmas Carols’ “Sing-Along”, guided by MC Hailes Castello.
The event will be sponsored by Progressive Imports, a Barbadian-owned company.
Sam said proceeds will benefit two families with a differently-abled child, one in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and another in the US.
For more information, contact Sam at chatoyerproductions@gmail.com, or call 347-586-2095.
