The Silver Hawk Theatre held their very first “Christmas Spectacular,” in honor of theater director Bob Henrichs’ 100th time directing a production.

Henrichs, the founding theater director at Lincoln Southwest, has been personally involved in all 67 of the Southwest productions held throughout the years, developing a love for both the people and the arts.

“I like the nationally recognized tradition of excellence that we have created at Southwest,” Henrichs said. “I also like the fact that so many members of the Lincoln community that have nothing to do with Southwest come in droves to our shows.  The fact that we sold out 2 of our 4 performances the week before opening was amazing.”

The production’s cast and crew was comprised of students who had participated in the cast and/or crew in any of Henrichs’ 100 productions throughout the years. Both current Southwest students and alums were invited back to personally make this performance truly spectacular.

“They should do more specialty shows like this,” sophomore Nolan Peterson said. “I think that would be a good idea to make each show unique and would help draw more and more people in with each show.”

The Christmas Spectacular did an amazing job combining everything from singing, dancing and humor with traditional holiday scenes and characters, such as Santa and his beloved wife, Mrs. Claus.

The show focused on the famous holiday duo reading letters from various children around the world, managing to incorporate musical numbers sung by everything from toy soldiers to Santa’s elves, and even a live, onstage sing along part way through.

The final moments of the show concluded with a classic nativity scene, complete with live animals to add to the magical experience.

“I think having live animals was a great idea,” senior Monty McConnell said. “I feel like that really helped this show stand out.”

The “Christmas Spectacular” was a wonderful show, seamlessly capturing the festivities of the holiday season into an enjoyable production for all ages.

The next theater performance will be the first ever pilot production of “My Fair Lady – School Edition”. More information will be available at the theater box office on Dec. 17, followed by auditions on Jan. 21 and 22.