Colton, CA—On December 6, at 6:00pm, Colton High’s Hospitality, Choir, and Band programs hosted the first renewal of the Winter Dinner Show after decades; the show was located in the MPR.
Tickets were sold for $10, for those who bought it they gained access to watch Colton High’s performances while dining on a three course meal which was served by the hospitality students. The first course of the meal entailed salad, rolls, punch and water, while the second had pasta, vegetables, punch and water, and the third course was sheet cake.
The renewal of the Winter wouldn’t have happened however if it weren’t for a specific conversation with recently retired history teacher David Wheatley, “Mr. Wheatley, told me a couple years ago that he used to do a dinner show at Colton High when he was a student in the 70s and I was like, really, that’s so cool, because I did a madrigal when I was in high school, a madrigal dinner, and that’s really normal.” said Cannaday.
The show featured two group choir performances, one run by Choir teacher and the Organizer of the event Dr. Jessica Cannaday, while the other was run by Band Director Aaron Campbell, some of the songs included Rudolph the Rednosed Reindeer, The Little Drummer Boy, African Noel and Feliz Navidad.
A trio performance by Felipe Mena, Cyril Alberto, and Ferdy Montiel commenced after the first choir group finished their songs, the trio sang their rendition of “Have Yourself a Merry Christmas”.
In between Choirs performances, theater students stepped up to present their skits, run by Acting teacher and Drama Advisor Sarah Hantuli.
The last performance of the night was held by Colton High’s band where they played Christmas Parade Sequence, Da Vinci Sketches and Sleigh Ride. After the band received a room full of applause they ended up performing extra songs to keep the crowd entertained.
Senior band member Genesis Rodela said “It was a little emotional for me, because I’m a senior, and this is my ninth Christmas concert, and it’s my last one, so I was a little nervous, and during it, I thought it went a little rough. But after, you know, I think my band did good, so I’m pretty proud of them.”
This sparked an idea for Cannaday to bring the event back to life “At the beginning of this year, I started planning, and I’ve been doing facilities requests, purchasing things and making plans all year long, and really kicking it into higher gear the last month two months, and you’ll notice I’ve had announcements going for three weeks to sell tickets and this was our first annual, hopefully not last, renewal of the dinner show.” she said.
With a sold out show, it is safe to say the event was a success and will now be an annual event. Next year however, the event might be moved to where the old cafeteria was, Cannaday said, “The hospitality program is going to have a building and we’re really hoping to use that building next year when it’s built, and done.”
