'Phantom' stars perform benefit

Holiday show for Family Promise also will feature ice skaters, harpist and children's choir

SARA TRAMIEL/VIEWTed Keegan, right, and Bruce Ewing sing "All You Gotta Do Is Pray" during a performance of "God Lives in Glass" last year at Community Lutheran Church. Ewing once again has organized a holiday show featuring cast members of "Phantom ? The Las Vegas Spectacular" that will benefit Family Promise. Advertisement

Cast and crew members from "Phantom -- The Las Vegas Spectacular" will band together in a multicultural celebration of the season at 2 p.m. Sunday at the Nicholas Horn Theater on the campus of the College of Southern Nevada, 3200 E. Cheyenne Ave.

The concert will feature a 14-piece orchestra, trios, duets, and solo and choir numbers, all to benefit Family Promise, a local nonprofit organization that helps homeless families get on their feet.

"A Phantom Family Holiday Concert: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year," is produced by "Phantom" ensemble cast member Bruce Ewing, a long-time supporter of Family Promise.

"This charity has become a pet project for many in our cast, and everyone was so happy to be able to put on a concert and help these great families," Ewing said. "We hope that the show will hold something for everyone, as it's not religion specific."

The show will feature everything from vocal renditions of holiday classics to an African-themed choir number. Ewing also has managed to secure a transportable ice skating rink, where crew members will perform choreography in time with the music.

"A few of the people in our wardrobe department are former ice skaters, and I thought it would be a great addition to our little holiday show," Ewing said.

Cast members also have learned to play hand bells for a special number that Ewing promises will be "touching at the very least."

In a culmination of the evening's events and in an effort to remind cast, crew and audience members of the reason for the season, hand bells will accompany a choir of children, a mixture of kids from families who have been aided by the Family Promise program and some who are family members of cast and crew.

"It's going to be beautiful to see them all up there," Ewing said. "It means so much to these kids to make a difference, and to entertain those who come to see the show."

Tickets are $30 each. All of the proceeds will be donated to Family Promise. For more information, call 245-0992.