The holiday season is nearly upon us and Old Sacramento is prepping for the extravagant Theatre of Lights show. But wait, you just put away your Halloween decorations, brought out your Thanksgiving décor, and we are already talking about Christmas? Don’t worry, although the Christmas season isn’t here yet, folks in Old Sacramento have been hard at work.
’Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
Read the entire poem here
These famous words, written by Clement Clarke Moore are the inspiration behind Theatre of Lights. Theatre of Lights began in 2009 with the simple hope of 
bringing holiday joy to the region, and what better way than to revisit 19th century Christmas traditions.
It’s fair to say that over the last five years Troy Carlson and his team at Stage Nine Entertainment have created an amazing holiday experience for families, while at the same time, reintroducing the cherished tradition of reading with your children to a new generation.
(Don’t worry if you don’t have kids yet, a holiday stroll through Old Sacramento makes a pretty romantic – and memorable — date night. Hint hint, guys.)
“For a lot of families, they haven’t introduced The Night Before Christmas to their children,” said Old Sacramento Business Association’s Chris McSwain. “There was a time when every child knew the lines to this poem by heart. Hopefully with Theatre of Lights, we can reintroduce the idea of reading this poem, and other books, to your children as not only a holiday tradition but a family one.”
This production is made possible through the partnership between Carlson and his team at Stage Nine Entertainment and Sacramento Theatrical Lighting’s (STL) Steve Odehnal, perhaps the city’s most experienced and talented lighting engineer and designer. Together these two teams have taken the magic of both traditional and theatrical holiday lighting and combined it with the historic storytelling to create the one-of-a-kind Theatre of Lights.
Troy and his team at Stage Nine Entertainment are always seeking to surpass expectations, and so they began talking about this years show before last year’s show was done.
There are two new additions to this years production. Last year’s narrator (an Irishman known as “the steward”) is revealed to be James McClatchy, the crusading reporter that made The Sacramento Bee the success it is today. McClatchy’s role ties in perfectly with Theatre of Lights because it was he who printed The Night Before Christmas in the 1857 Christmas Eve edition of The Sacramento Bee. The second addition to this year’s script is a surprise character. This new character is inspired by another piece of holiday-themed American literature, this one written by L. Frank Baum best known for Wizard of Oz. (Did you guess yet?)
Theatre of Lights takes place on K Street between Front and Firehouse Alley on the historic building facades of Evangeline’s and Stage Nine. The first performance is on Wednesday, November 27 beginning with the annual lighting of the City Christmas tree at 6 pm.
Shows will continue throughout the holiday season Thursdays through Sundays at 6:15 pm and 7:45 pm from November 29 through December 29. (There is no show on Thanksgiving Day but there will be holiday performances on Christmas Eve at 6:15 pm and on New Year’s Eve at 7 pm and 8:30 pm).
Old Sacramento will be abuzz so come early, dress comfortably, and expect to be dazzled.
For a complete schedule visit Old Sacramento’s webpage here.
Photo Credit: Charr Crail
