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Matthew Troillett / Marie Bshara
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE

SOULFUL SANTA, MRS. CLAUS, AND
THE DANCING CHITLINS
COME TO LIFE IN FIRST VIRTUAL PRESENTATION OF
“THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS:
IN CONCERT”
BY THREE-TIME GRAMMY AWARD^®-WINNING
SOUNDS OF BLACKNESS 

AVAILABLE FROM DECEMBER 19 – 31
ON ORDWAY.ORG AND BROADWAY ON DEMAND

New York, NY (November 12, 2020) – Broadway On Demand, the theater-focused streaming platform, and The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts today announced a virtual holiday presentation of music from The Night Before Christmas: In Concert by Minnesota’s three-time Grammy Award^®-winning, international music sensation Sounds of Blackness. Available from December 19 through December 31, The Night Before Christmas: In Concert will stream on Ordway.org and BroadwayOnDemand.com.

Songs from this family-friendly, holiday favorite will be performed in a concert-style format and broadcast virtually for the first time, available via on-demand streaming December 19-31, 2020. Tickets are $15 per household device and are currently on sale at Ordway.org and BroadwayOnDemand.com.

The Night Before Christmas brings Soulful Santa, Mrs. Claus, Santa’s Fine Reindeer, and the famous Dancing Chitlins to life with show-stopping, roof-raising music, in styles ranging from R&B and hip hop, to jazz, blues, and gospel, in a contemporary adaptation of the beloved holiday classic poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas.” Sounds of Blackness holiday favorite hits “Joy of Christmas,” and “Soul Holidays,” are featured, along with arrangements of classic carols like “Silent Night” and “O Come, All Ye Faithful.”

Featuring 17 vocalists, including Ordway Resident Artist Jamecia Bennett, and the Sounds of Blackness 10-piece band, The Night Before Christmas: In Concert will be recorded in the Ordway’s acoustically-rich Concert Hall. This virtual presentation will deliver a concertized version of the program’s music, giving viewers a “front row” feel through close-ups of the performers.

“This year, everyone gets a front row seat to enjoy a rich, uplifting cultural experience in their homes with the people they love,” shared Gary Hines, Sounds of Blackness Music Director and Producer. “This first-ever virtual presentation will allow the audience to experience the musical focus on songs from The Night Before Christmas: In Concert in a new, intimate way,” he continued.

“I’m overjoyed that this soul-touching holiday tradition is taking its place center stage at the Ordway!” added Robin Hickman-Winfield, Taking Our Place Centerstage Founder, Ordway Organizational Strategist, and CEO of SoulTouch Productions.

The virtual presentation of The Night Before Christmas: In Concert by the Sounds of Blackness is supported by the Knight Foundation Cultural Opportunity Fund, a program of the Arts Partnership, made possible in part by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Special thanks to Bremer Bank and SPIRE Credit Union for their major support of holiday programming at the Ordway.

Sounds of Blackness Vocalists include, Jamecia Bennett, Nneka Costantino, Layce Dreamz, Kadejsha Kibble, Lorrie Lean, Ayenna Davis, Bridget Dawkins, Carrie Harrington, Micah Cherina Eubanks, Artisha Knight-Milon, Quintin Brown, Steve Dinkins, Len Jones, Ronnie Allen, Rodney Fair, Graydon Francis, and David Hurst.

Sounds of Blackness Musicians include, Daryl Boudreaux, Gary Hines, Yohannes Tona, Darold McCray, Juan Navarro, Solomon Parham, Larry Robinson, Larry Sims, Billy Steele, and David Wright III.

Sounds of Blackness, the Minnesota-based, three-time Grammy Award-winning music ensemble, has been entertaining audiences around the world for 50 years with uplifting messages of hope, unity, love, and peace. Presenting a range of music styles from soul and R&B, to jazz, hip hop, and gospel, this internationally-acclaimed group has performed with countless music legends including Prince, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, and Elton John, and in front of crowds at the Super Bowl, Olympics, World Cup, Grammy Awards, and NAACP Image Awards. Their work has taken them to five continents, performing for audiences as diverse as homeless persons, prison inmates, orphans, and kings, queens, presidents, and heads of state. Inspired by the words of civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, Sounds of Blackness released hit single “Sick & Tired” in June of 2020.

Recognized as one of the country’s leading not-for-profit performing arts centers, the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts presents and produces a wide variety of live performances throughout the year that encompass the finest in Broadway musicals, concerts, comedy, dance, and vocal artists. The Ordway serves over 60,000 children each year through its education programs and presents the annual Flint Hills Family Festival. The performing arts center houses a 1,900-seat Music Theater, a 1,100-seat Concert Hall, and magnificent lobbies. The Ordway is a proud member of the Arts Partnership, a collaboration comprising the Ordway, Minnesota Opera, The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Schubert Club.

Broadway On Demand is the industry-leading livestream platform housing performance & theatre education programming, & the preferred choice of top Broadway artists, producers, educators & professionals. Broadway On Demand has streamed 2,500 events & live productions – from Broadway shows to concert series, performance venues to individual artists, & original content – in 82 countries to over 300,000 viewers. Thanks to a unique licensing interface, ShowShare, approved middle school, high school, college, community & professional theatre productions utilize the platform to stream to their audiences.

Broadway on Demand is available on the web, mobile, Apple and Android app store, AppleTV, Roku, Chromecast, and Amazon Fire TV.

For access to the complete and ever-expanding Broadway on Demand library, subscribe at BroadwayOnDemand.com.

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