Christmas Spectacular

In addition to the Christmas Masses, the Cathedral choirs will perform their annual pageant entitled “A Cathedral Holiday New Year’s Spectacular! A Touch of Frost.” The production will have two showings, one on Friday, Dec. 21, at 7:30 p.m. and the second on Saturday, Dec. 22, at 2 p.m.

Celebrating the sounds of the season and nativity, this event is under the direction of Lee Gwozdz, Guadalupe Rivera Jr., Rachael Vasquez and Chrisi Carter and will feature members of the Corps de Cathedral, Cathedral Pontifical Chorale, Youth Chorale, Cathedral Choristers, Cherub Choir and members from the Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestra.

“The Cathedral Holiday Spectacular! A Touch of Frost!” with a cast of more than 300 residents of the Diocese of Corpus Christi, will showcase the choirs of Corpus Christi Cathedral in a selection of holiday music that will delight the audience no matter what age, Gwozdz said.

“The Cathedral will be filled with music to complete your holiday season, concluding with the fully staged and magically costumed pageant of “Gloria in Excelsis Deo,” a re-enactment of the timeless Christmas Story including angels, shepherds, lambs and the three magi,” Gwozdz said.

Carter will choreograph the interpretive movement provided by the Corps de Cathedral Liturgical Movement Ensemble. Gwozdz will direct and stage the production, with the coordination of Rachael and Daniel Vasquez.

Gwozdz said the holiday spectacular, now in its thirtieth year, includes a second-generation cast. Some members of the cast that performed as children in the pageant now have their children performing the same roles they had as a child.

The two Angel lifts, provided and prepared each year by Jerry Mathieu of Mathieu Electric Company, raise the angels 30 feet up in the air and go through intense safety checks prior to each rehearsal and production. Mostly used for outdoor works, these lifts are cleaned, greased and oiled to reduce the noise level of the lifts. Vicky Compian is in charge of disguising the lifts with clouds-like fabric to give the heavenly appearance of the thrust of the angels’ ascent.

Irene Corey Design Associates in Dallas designed a large collection of angel wings for the spectacular.; super dimensional angel wings with wingspans of four-feet are used. The members of the Cathedral Cherub Choir use 12 cherub wings for the production.

The king’s capes are long trains–20 to 30 feet in length–from past “Las Doñas de la Corte” coronations; they require a lot of strength to pull.

Seating passes for general seating for $3 each are available by sending a self-addressed stamped envelope or visiting the Music Office at 505 North Upper Broadway in Corpus Christi 78401. VIP passes and performance passes are required for the VIP section. A free will offering will be accepted at each performance. For seating passes or more information call (361) 888-7444.

The Christmas pageant is the start of the Cathedral Concert Series 2012-13 sponsored by Citgo Corporation. Frost Bank is sponsoring the first pageant performance and Whataburger is underwriting the second performance.