In the holiday season of 2001, just after the Sept. 11 attacks, cupboards were nearly bare at area food banks. Everett neurosurgeon Sanford Wright Jr. saw a way to help, and to lift spirits with a gift of song.
That first “Christmas Spectacular” show at the Everett Historic Theatre had a patriotic flavor. For the finale, a huge U.S. flag was displayed as the Everett Chorale led a crowd of more than 800 in a sing-along of “God Bless America.”
| “A Christmas Spectacular,” a musical show to benefit Volunteers of America food bank, is 7 p.m. Saturday at the Historic Everett Theatre, 2911 Colby Ave. Admission is a can of food plus $5, or $10. A gala celebration will follow at 9 p.m. Saturday at the Dorothy Jayne Studio, 2931 Bond St. in Everett. |
The show, a benefit for the Volunteers of America food bank, returns to the theater at 7 p.m. Saturday. This time, in an update on Bob Hope’s USO shows, the uplifting music will be shown on an Internet site and can be watched by American servicemen and servicewomen in Iraq.
“It looks like ‘A Christmas Spectacular’ will be playing live, from the Historic Everett Theatre, in Baghdad on Dec. 18,” Wright said. A longtime arts advocate in Snohomish County, he is producing the show.
Among the performers will be: baritone Victor Benedetti, who has performed with the New York City Opera; jazz pianist and composer Dehner Franks, for years a popular local artist and now a performer in Las Vegas; television personality Brian Tracey; singer and actress Ivyann Schwann, who appeared in the movies “Parenthood” and “Problem Child 2”; Russian-trained singer Anna Stoval; the Imagine Children’s Museum singers; and the Everett Chorale.
Everett Chorale director Lee Mathews’ son, Brian, is serving in the National Guard in Iraq.
“He’s in the infantry,” said Mathews’ wife, Carol. “He went over there last February. He was just home. We had him for Thanksgiving, but he’s back in Baghdad,” she said.
She isn’t sure whether he’ll be able to catch the show, which will be shown on www.dorothyjaynestudio.com. To see it, visitors to the site will need RealPlayer. Richard Eaks of Puget Sound Video, working with Black Sheep Technologies, had a successful test live from the theater last week, Wright said.
The Everett doctor has exchanged e-mail with Marlon Ramirez, who’s in Iraq with the Army National Guard. Wright knows the soldier’s wife, Jannette Ramirez, a computer tomography scan technician at Providence Everett Medical Center.
She has told Wright her husband put up fliers in Baghdad to let others there know about the broadcast. Wright hopes Tracey, the master of ceremonies, will single Jannette Ramirez out in the audience Saturday so she can wave at her husband, who plans to watch at an Internet cafe in Baghdad.
“To my knowledge, this will be the first performing arts event Web cast live from a major Everett theater,” Wright said. While he knows people may be watching in New York or Los Angeles, it’s the Baghdad connection that’s most meaningful this season.
After the show Saturday, the celebration will continue with a 9 p.m. gala at the Dorothy Jayne Studio, 2931 Bond St. in Everett, where Wright’s wife, champion ballroom dancer Olga Foraponova, directs dance programs.
“A Christmas Spectacular” will air on the radio at 6 p.m. Dec. 24 on KRKO (1380 AM).
Through the Dorothy Jayne Foundation, named for his mother, Wright is producing and sponsoring the show, which in years past collected thousands of pounds of food for VOA.
“Dr. Wright is incredibly busy with his surgical practice, so I volunteered to help,” said Nancy Gosen, assistant producer of “A Christmas Spectacular.”
Gosen was founder of the Port Gardner Bay Chamber Music Society and has worked for Seattle Opera. She and Wright chose Benedetti as the showcase singer after an impromptu audition. “He is just wonderful,” Gosen said of the baritone recognized by New York City Opera as a Debut Artist of the Year.
When talent meets generosity, everyone wins.
“Sanford leads us with his commitment to the community, to the VOA and to the arts. He’s a leader, and we’re following,” Gosen said. “This is an incredible community, a community of giving people, that’s what we have here.”
Columnist Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlstein julie@ heraldnet.com.
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