IN PERFORMANCE

24 December 2021

It wasn't on the schedule for our PBS station and we would have missed it entirely if we weren't watchers of Finding Your Roots, the Henry Louis Gates ancestry program.  We were looking forward to seeing Mandy Patinkin last night and settled in to watch.

Instead what came on was a program called In Performance at the White House.  This is a show that is performed annually, since 1978.  In Performance at The White House was created to showcase the rich fabric of American culture in the setting of the nation's most famous home. Since 1978, the program has embraced virtually every genre of American performance art.

They show a map of the White House and take you into each of the rooms, show the decoration of each room, and in each room is a performer who does a Christmas number.  My favorite was Andrea Bocelli and his children.

I remember the first time I ever saw Andrea Bocelli, many years ago, hearing that glorious voice and feeling sad that he could never make a career out of it because, being blind, he was not able to sing in opera.  Well, he's done well enough for himself.  And now his children are making their own way.  His son is becoming as big a star as his father and his daughter -- not sure how old she is -- sang "Hallelulia" with her father and her voice is strong and easily equal to a duet.

They sang in the state dining room, where Biden and Dr. Biden sat and watched.  The song brought tears to my eyes, and I saw that the president was wiping away tears as well.

But all the numbers were great.  Each room was beautifully decorated and the songs were just great.  No audience, of course, because of the pandemic, but you didn't really need an audience, the way they did the show.

Walt went and googled this show, which is where he learned that this show, a celebration of the arts and of the decoration of the White House, has been presented by PBS every year since 1978, except the four years #45 was in office when it was canceled.  The man who was so adamant that the term "Merry Christmas" be uttered, couldn't be bothered to celebrate the arts or the decoration of the White House.

But then, given Melania's taste in Christmas decoration, perhaps that's just as well.

This is Dr. Biden's decoration.

I don't know if you can find this on your PBS station, but if you can, I highly recommend watching it.