All Is Calm will be presented free of charge by Opera Orlando at Orlando Family Stage to get the season started on the proper note of peace and goodwill. | Courtesy Orlando Family Stage
On Christmas Eve 1914, the front lines of World War I got a bit more quiet and a bit less deadly when soldiers in warring regiments from Germany, Scotland and France declared a spontaneous, albeit temporary, truce.
Opera Orlando will dramatize that true story when it brings its production of All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914 to Orlando Family Stage, where it will be presented free of charge to get the season started on the proper note of peace and goodwill.
This powerful a cappella-only musical drama was written by Peter Rothstein—producing artistic director at Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota-based on actual letters sent by soldiers who were in the trenches during the incident.
Every word of dialogue comes from those letters, and all of the songs—carols and folk songs sung in English, German and French—were sung by the soldiers on that astonishing night of shared music and humanity.
In addition to four performances at Orlando Family Stage, Opera Orlando is bringing the hourlong show to The JCC Rosen of Southwest Orlando (Thursday, December 18) and the Winter Garden Heritage Foundation (Saturday and Sunday, December 20 and 21).
All Is Calm, which premiered as a radio drama in 2007, enjoyed a successful Off-Broadway run during which it won a 2019 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience. It has become a holiday classic and was filmed for PBS in 2020.
Opera Orlando should certainly be able to hit the ground running, since they’ve presented All Is Calm at multiple venues in 2019 and 2022. Sounds like they’re prepared to keep doing it until the world finally gets the message.
Orlando Family Stage is located at 1001 East Princeton Street, Orlando. For more information, call or visit the website.
