Music Tuesday: All Is Calm (Musical)

Have you ever heard of the Christmas Truce of 1914 during WWI?  I think last year was the first year I had ever heard of it.  During that Christmas the soldiers of both sides put down their arms, came out of their trenches, and met in the middle of “No Man’s Land” in a peaceful embrace, a singing of Christmas carols, and even playing a game of soccer. 

When I learned of it, I told Matthew about it.  He was fascinated with war as all boys and he loves Christmas carols.  I thought he would enjoy that kind of a charming and life affirming story, and he did.  He loved the story and remembered when I mentioned it again a few months ago.  I mentioned it because I found out there was a musical made of the story and that musical was being played at the Sheen Theater here in NYC.  So I asked him if he wanted to go, and he resoundingly said yes.  So I got tickets for the Saturday before Christmas.

Going into the week, Matthew had gotten the flu, and I was worried he wouldn’t be able to go.  But he got well and gave me the flu!  Luckily my fever broke the morning of the play, so I filled up on decongestant and we made our way to the city.  My wife had not wanted to go, so it had become a boy’s night out.  We scorned a fancy restaurant for dinner and opted for pizza and chocolate bars…lol. 

The play was great.  Here is a website of this particular tour. This was the playbill for our show.  It was really quite a moving play, capturing the bitterness of war, the camaraderie of men, and the charity of Christmas.  The narrative moved through excerpts of soldier’s letters.  It was an all-male cast with precise accents.  And the singing was heavenly, from male alto to deep base, from solo to harmony.  You can find many of the songs on YouTube if you search “Cantus_All Is Calm.”  Cantus I think was the original singing group that put on the original performance.

Here is an excerpt performing “O Tennenbaum.”

And here is “Silent Night” sung at the most dramatic moment of the drama.

If a show is ever put on in a theater near you, I highly recommend it.  It’s beautiful and captures the best of humanity. 

I found a trailer from the writer and director, Peter Rothstein, on how the musical came about and was put together.  It shows you clips of the stage drama. 

Merry Christmas.