Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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Santa Claus Is Coming to the Fayetteville Christmas Parade by JHANA M. LEWIS Every year my son and I bundle up, fi ll our thermoses with hot chocolate and head down to the Christmas parade that runs through the center of our city. It is as much a part of our holiday tradition as tree trimming or getting together with family. Just the sight of the large colorful fl oats, marching bands and of course, Santa Claus, lets you know that the holiday season is upon us. However, this will be our fi rst year attending a parade in Fayetteville, and we are excited to see what is in store for us. The grand marshall of this year’s parade is Boomerang Cartoon Networks Scooby Doo, who is appearing courtesy of Channel 14 Carolina News. Scooby won’t be joined by the rest of his gang, but he will be joined by 10 Cumberland County bands, homemade and commercial fl oats and more than 90 entries. Oganizers believe this year’s parade is sure to be stellar. For more than 20 years the parade has been put together by the members of planner called away, Johnson Chestnut and Matthew Smith stepped up agreeing to co- chair, and have been in charge ever since. Smith says this year’s parade is “A parade Don’t miss the Christmas Parade on Dec. 11. for the children of Cumberland County to not only observe and enjoy, but also participate in. We have invited one child from each of the Cumberland County schools to ride in one of the Rotary fl oats in the Christmas parade. It gives them an opportunity that they may never have again in a lifetime.” Many local businesses are pitching in and lending their support to make this parade a spectacular one as well, including Taco Bell, Long John Silvers and Time Warner Cable. “This will be the 11th year that we have put this parade on, and we have been both overwhelmed and touched by the response from our sponsors,” said Smith. The procession will begin at 11 a.m and the Fayetteville Rotary Club, a group of men that was formed to bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards and help promote goodwill and peace in the world. In 1999, once they discovered there was to be no Christmas procession that year, they decided to band together with two other local Rotary Clubs to take on this excellent community service project. The members organized every detail of the parade themselves, proving that they live by their motto, “Service before self.” With the fi rst year’s parade will start at Person Street, go to the Market House, then Hay Street and end at the Amtrak Station. If by chance you cannot make it downtown to see the parade in person, don’t fret, it will be televised on Channel 14 (although it will be time delayed and won’t be aired until 6 p.m. Saturday) and will be available On Demand the following week. Rotary Parade — and don’t forget your hot chocolate! Come out and and catch the holiday spirit at this year’s 2010 JHANA M. LEWIS, Contributing Writer. COMMENTS? 484-6200 ext. 222 or editor@upandcomingweekly.com. N.C. Ballet Brings Nutcracker to Crown Theater by STEPHANIE CRIDER If you haven’t made it to this year’s rendition of The Nutcracker Ballet, there is still time. The North Carolina State Ballet is performing at the Crown Coliseum Complex on Dec. 11 and 12. It’s the 33rd consecutive year of The Nutcracker performing in Fayetteville and will feature a cast of more than 60 dancers and actors. The story is the same beloved tale of Clara and the enchanted Nutcracker that she receives from her godfather, Her Drosslemeyer. Clara experiences the horrible Mouse King, and travels with the romantic Nutcracker Prince to the Land of Snow and Kingdom of Sweets. International guest artists Gabor Kapin and Alicia Fabry will perform. Kapin dances Cavalier to Fabry’s Sugar Plum Fairies. Kapin also performs as the Nutcracker Prince with Anne Talkington and April Glasper as Clara. Little Clara is danced by Brooke Bielecki, Victoria Spence and Charlie Holly. Glasper also dances the Jewel in ‘Waltz of the Flowers’ and alternates the “Snow Queen” with Destiny Johnson. Daniel Moore plays “Drosslemeyer,” the Magician. “We have an outstanding cast and wonderful, international guest performers,” said Charlotte Blume, the president of the North Carolina State Ballet and director of the two act, three scene production. “Most of the dancers in our production are not new to the performance, many of them have been dancing in it for years and have grown up into their parts — they may start out as a mouse and move up from there as the years pass.” A lot of hard work has gone into this production. In fact, Blume says that it seems that as soon as the production ends, it feels like they start right into working WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM on next year’s performance. Auditions are held around labor day and from early fall until the performance, the dancers are working to learn their parts so they can bring joy to the audience when the holidays roll around. The scenery has been updated for a few of the acts, adding freshness and new fl avor to the production. North Carolina School of the Arts graduate Jennifer O’Kelly of O’Kelly Design Studios designed the backdrop for Act I. Local artist Cindy Slappey and her former art student Caroline Geiger designed and painted a backdrop for Act II. It shows the entrance to the Land of Sweets and the Castle of the Sugar Plum Fairy. “There are so many reasons that people come to see The Daniel Moore as Drosslemeyer Nutcracker,” said Blume. “It may be that it is a family tradition, or that they know people in the cast, or that they are looking for an opportunity to see a high quality performance of The Nutcracker at a reasonable price. Regardless of the reason, this is an outstanding production that the entire family will enjoy.” Purchase tickets at the Crown Center box offi ce and at www.ticketmaster.com. General seating costs $16. Military personnel receive a discounted price of $12 at the Crown Center Box Offi ce with a military ID. The curtain rises at 3 p.m. for all shows, Visit www. ncstateballet.com for more information. STEPHANIE CRIDER, Staff Writer. COMMENTS? 484-6200 ext. 222 or editor@upandcomingweekly.com. DECEMBER 8-14, 2010 UCW 7