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Arts & Entertainment

Local Talents to Ham It Up for the Holidays

The second annual 'Holiday Hams' community talent show to showcase local performers and benefit a grassroots arts organization.

A local grassroots arts organization will kick off the holiday season Saturday with a community talent show featuring some homegrown talent.

Dubbed Holiday Hams, the show presented by Spotlight the Arts Foundation and now in its second year, will be held at the l Theater. Doors will open at 7 p.m.

“We’re all a bunch of hams,” said Marcia Goldwater, the foundation’s general manager. “We like to ham it up and do something fun and uplifting—thus the name.”

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This year's pool of local talent is bigger than last year's, said Goldwater, a Calabasas resident who is also directing the show.

“We have auditions, and the ones who missed last year were kept on a list,” she said. “The list got longer this year.”

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About 20 production numbers are expected this year, from dancers to doo-woppers, from 8-year-olds to 82-year-olds.

One of them is Gari Geiselman, 15, who also performed in last year’s show. The Westlake Village teen will sing “Believe,” a heart-warming song from the movie The Polar Express.

Geiselman has been belting out songs since she was 9. “I think I got it from my grandpa who was part of a quartet,” she said. “I have fond memories of him singing when I was little.”

A high school freshman at Oaks Christian, Geiselman’s days include music lessons and rehearsals. For Holiday Hams, she practices every day and works with a vocal coach.

News anchor Glen Walker of TV's KTLA will be this year’s celebrity guest host.

“We also have an acapella group, comedians, bands and other vocalists,” said Goldwater. “The wealth of local talent is astounding.” The show is expected to be two hours long.

The Calabasas High School Theater is also larger than last year’s venue at a local middle school.

 “As we anticipate a larger crowd, we’ve upped the ante with a bigger, better production overall,” said Goldwater. “We want it to be a well-known and annual local event."

Holiday Hams will benefit the Spotlight the Arts Foundation and its outreach programs in Calabasas and surrounding communities.

The audience is also encouraged to bring an unwrapped toy for New Directions for Youth, which provides services and programs to at-risk youth and families.

For more information or to purchase tickets, please click here.

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