Purduette Trio performing at the Purdue Christmas Show in 1956
The Purdue Christmas Show celebrates its 90th anniversary this year! Audiences can expect all the things they’ve loved about performances past including beautiful secular and sacred music sung exclusively by our incredible students, big screens at the proscenium for optimal viewing enjoyment anywhere in the perforamnce space, and the traditional PMO alumni-led carol sing. PMO will be bringing a few surprises to the stage as well to commemorate the event.
Over its lifetime, the show has become a family favorite holiday tradition with thousands of concertgoers returning year after year. Back in 1933, Al Stewart and a small group of singers performed this festive show for a quaint crowd of just a couple hundred people. Among the audience, a nine-year-old Elizabeth (Betty) Combs, along with her family, sat in delight and awe of the festive cheer brought to the stage of Fowler Hall during such a dire time in American history.
“[During the depression, the Christmas Show] was free and an opportunity to hear some good music,” Combs said. “About all I can remember about [the first one] is that they sang Christmas carols and it was just [that] but of course, we all thought it was wonderful.”
Since then, Combs has attended nearly every Purdue Christmas Show, missing only a couple along the way. The show evolved over the years, shifting from carol sing-a-longs and skit-heavy performances of the Stewart years to its current iteration with full ensemble performances and all the modern trimmings of a professional stage production, and Combs has seen it all.
“Fowler was really a pretty simple production, but the [Elliott Hall of Music] could do a lot...change scenes and lighting. It really got pretty elegant,” Combs said.
Combs has brought her children to the performances numerous times who have, in turn, brought their children to it. Most recently, Combs attended the 89th performance with one of her granddaughters who was “thrilled” to experience the show again.
“Everybody in our family has liked [the Purdue Christmas Show],” Combs said. “It’s always been something easy and fun to do.”
The annual Purdue Christmas Show returns to Elliott Hall of Music on December 1-3, 2023, and we’re counting down the days until we get to celebrate this festive occasion again alongside Betty, her family, and supporters like you!