13. Christmas Returns ... THE FARM IN PINE VILLAGE

As another Christmas drew near, Ida and Joe took the boys to Purdue University’s Christmas show matinee performance. After the long walk from the parking lot to the doors of the Edward C. Elliott Hall of Music, the family passed through a series of foyers. The boys and their parents waited in the innermost foyer until the doors would open. As Ida had seen to it that they were early, they were near the door on their right. More and more people entered the foyer and stood expectantly, speaking in low tones that steadily grew in volume as the crowd grew in numbers. The women’s perfumes were strong all about. Here and there, the scent of a cigarette came wafting through the fragrances.

Suddenly, black-suited ushers opened the many doors across the foyer’s inner wall, and Ida made a mad dash for the aisle beneath the balcony along the right of the ground floor. She had her boys’ hands in hers, and they were practically tripping as she sprinted down the carpeted ramp. Ida wanted seats as close to the front as possible. Other mothers were springing forward ahead of Ida, so she accepted seats in the center of the second row. Joe was farther back, as he did not want to appear too eager. Eventually, he caught up with the rest of his family.

The auditorium was huge. Robert turned to look at the balconies. He stared at the big organ on the platform at the left. He watched the well-dressed crowd quickly filling all the seats.

At the appointed hour, a hush fell over the throng. Almost simultaneously, the lights dimmed. The velvet curtains rustled back from the immensely tall stage, and a winter scene unfolded. Fluffy snowflakes were falling. A full-sized house decorated for Christmas stood at the right, and an ever-so-tall Christmas tree covered in lights was catching snowflakes in the front yard. Snow-covered fields stretched back exactly as they would in the real outdoors, and horses pulled a sleigh into view at the left. Carolers singing “Jingle Bells” jumped down from the sleigh. Their trained Glee Club voices reached into all the corners of the gigantic hall.

Robert was in awe of the set, and it was only the first of many to move in and out, across, and up and down the massive stage. He watched in wonder at the baton of Al G. Wright, the orchestra conductor and widely recognized director of bands at Purdue University. It caught the yellow light from the brass lamps on the musicians’ stands and flashed to the right and left of Al’s tuxedo shoulders. Gladys Wright, the conductor’s spouse, ably played bells and other percussion instruments.

When the renowned Al Stewart strode onto the stage, applause erupted immediately. He was the beloved choral conductor whose genius for entertainment lay at the heart of the annual Christmas extravaganza. He brought on soloists and various groupings of singers for number after number as the sets established mood after mood commensurate with Al’s vision of the scope of Christmas and its meaning.

The whole event was grand on a grand scale. Just when people in the surrounding counties thought that Purdue could not possibly exceed the glories of a Christmas show twelve months later, the next year would unveil a magnificent entertainment even more spectacular than the one before.

At the end of the performance, a spotlight illuminated the organist, a scrim became nearly transparent. What appeared to be a cathedral with stained glass windows lit by candles could be seen through the misty scrim. The organist played a solemn introduction, and voices singing “O Come, All Ye Faithful” arose behind the audience.

Robert swung around to look back. Down all the aisles came robed singers carrying candles. At the same time, the words to the hymn appeared in ghostly translucence on the scrim. A voice from somewhere invited the audience to sing. More and more voices joined those of the robed choir members, who just kept coming. There were so many singers! As they arrived at the stage, they took steps to the tops of multi-tiered risers in front of the cathedral windows. In dignified procession, the singers slowly filled the risers. Verse after verse lit the scrim before them. By the end of the song, hundreds of robed singers filled the stage in towering rows from one side to the other. The effect was breathtaking.

The crowd sang several traditional Christmas melodies along with the choir and the thundering organ. At the end came “Silent Night.” When the last chord trailed away, the robed singers blew out their candles, the stage was dark except for the central stained glass window with its depiction of the nativity, and the announcer’s voice said, “All of us at Purdue University wish you and your loved ones a very merry Christmas.”

The lights in the auditorium came up, and the crowd burst into a standing ovation.

Filled with Christmas joy, Joe, Ida, Charles, and Robert drove the twenty miles to their farm on the edge of Pine Village. All the way home, they talked about the sets, the singers, the clever dialog, Al G. Wright, Al Stewart, and the majestic ending.

Twilight was falling, and Joe plugged in the wreaths hanging in the windows and the lighted Santa Claus head that hung in the window at the foot of Robert’s bed. Then Joe plugged in the Christmas tree. The decorations seemed all the brighter and more beautiful because the Purdue show had put everyone in the perfect holiday spirit.