The Performers: A Cascade of Carols

If you're doing a Christmas production, it helps to have favorite carols. 

Jon Lorenz and Leonard Patton, part of “Festival of Christmas,” do. Lorenz favors “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” Patton, “The Christmas Song” (or as it's better known to many of us, “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire”).

Lorenz, a member of the company's resident acting ensemble, says he has had “a lifelong love affair with Christmas music,” and it's a good thing since he has been taking part in Lamb's holiday festivals for 10 years.

He and Patton, who is in his fourth festival, helped write songs for this year's featured play,

Partly they enjoy turning classic carols “on their ear,” Lorenz says. But Patton also likes taking a highly recognizable song, one his audience already may be attached to, and fitting it into the emotional landscape of a play.

Doing it is “surprisingly easy,” he says, and the songs often go over with the audience as well as those written specifically for a play.

Finding the right tone, however, takes time. Planning for Lamb's holiday productions, which include at the , starts months ahead of time. 

“I can't believe I'm talking about Christmas and sweating in mid-summer,” Lorenz says, of those early efforts.

After weeks of preparations, rehearsals began this year in November, performances at the beginning of December. It's a long time to be working on carols.

Can it make one grinch-y in the end? According to Patton, no.

“I don't ever get sick of Christmas,” he says. “I can't get enough of it, really.”

Lorenz and Patton are two of Coronado Patch's 12 People of Christmas, business people and celebrants whose work and hobbies give them a unique perspective on the holidays. Watch in the coming days as we talk to more people who offer their take on the holidays and advice for how to make it through this busy time.