“A Prairie Christmas” radio show plays on airwaves nationwide during the holidays, but broadcaster and storyteller Jeff Gould will bring his popular production to SpringBrooke Events in Beaver Creek Friday night, Dec. 17.
“This is a live show,” Gould told the Star Herald. “This is what we’ve realized over the past couple of years: It works better when we’re together.”
He’s already sold out in three Sioux Falls venues and said he’s looking forward to the small-town stage in Beaver Creek.
“People are proud of their communities,” Gould said. “Without that, they’re just a bunch of people living together.”
The live show, he said, invites and uplifts that community spirit and spirit of Christmas through the power of a story.
Doors open at 5 p.m. Friday and the buffet dinner starts at 6:15 p.m. with live music by Jim Groth during the dinner social.
“A Prairie Christmas On Stage” starts at 7 p.m. featuring music by Dan Schwartz and Gould’s storytelling, which has been compared to Paul Harvey and Garrison Keillor.
But Gould said he’s more interested making audience connections, especially in an era of instant entertainment.
“We can get what we need on Netflix, but what we don’t realize is that’s killing us,” he said.
“We need to be together. We need to be at our kids’ Christmas programs. We need to be at some kid’s Christmas program, because that kid will someday be our mayor, our doctor or our mechanic, and we may someday need to know that kid.”
A Prairie Christmas, he said, accomplishes the shared experience.
“We may come in as strangers, but when you tell stories as a group, we realize that we share the same hopes, the same memories, the same family things,” Gould said.
“The show is designed to offer that experience. We all remember our first job, our visits with Grandma and our stories from Grandpa in the Army.”
The “celebration of food, stories, music and memories from the Heartland” features a menu as inviting as the company.
It includes “slow-smoked apple-stuffed pork loin, prime rib roast in a demi-glaze sauce, homemade cheesy potatoes, green bean casserole, buttered corn, house salad, dinner rolls and cheese cake. Plus refreshments that include adult beverages
SpringBrooke Events owner Rick Gourley said he’s excited to bring Gould and his “Prairie Christmas” live show to Beaver Creek.
“SpringBrooke is an event hall,” he said. “We host and sponsor events. And in this particular case it’s a live show. … So many people are getting their entertainment electronically, and here’s an opportunity to enjoy entertainment that goes way back.”
General admission tickets are $45 with children under 12 admitted for $35 and seniors over 55 for $40. A table of eight costs $320 and “premier table of eight” costs $500.
Tickets are available at the door and online at ilikethatstory.net with an option to buy tickets for the show only.
“It’s just a surefire way to bring the Christmas spirit to the community,” Gourley said about the evening.