TheatreOne will host a swinging jazz Christmas show to help raise money to keep its mainstage theatre productions going.
Cool Yule, featuring Van Django, is a family-friendly variety show that will be at the Port Theatre on Sunday, Dec. 15.
“The kind of music that Van Django plays is kind of swinging, [Romani] jazz from the 1930s and 40s. We have kind of expanded that a little bit so we are doing a little bit of pop and rock 'n' roll treatment to a couple of things and Celtic covers and things like that but mostly you can expect the swinging jazz throughout the show,” said Cameron Wilson, violinist for Van Django. “We have fun too – we will take Let it Snow and normally it’s in a really happy, bubbly key and we put it into a minor and turn it into a tango.”
The show will feature a mix of nostalgic favourites, jazz standards, singalongs, pop tunes and some classical touches. Cool Yule is part of TheatreOne’s showcase series, which raise money to support the theatre group. Michael Cade, TheatreOne’s artistic director, said ticket sales have not recovered since the COVID-19 pandemic and the group relies on sources aside from sales to keep offering shows.
“This year our audience numbers are significantly up over last year. Last year they were significantly up over the 2022-23 season but we still have a long, long way to go in order to get to the point where we have a traditional ration of the money that is earned through ticket sales, versus the grant money and the money through fundraising,” he said.
He said sales only cover about a quarter of the group’s expenses and the rest comes from donations, sponsors, grants and fundraising.
“TheatreOne is extremely fragile at this point and with it being the 40th anniversary of our first season this year, we want that to be a milestone and not a gravestone,” Cade said.
