Gracias Choir gives Ghanaians perfect early Christmas

It’s August, four clear months away from December, but some Ghanaians had an early Christmas Monday night.

This year's Christmas was celebrated at the Athletic Oval of the University of Ghana. Monday, August 3.

The hundreds who heeded the prophetic call of Joy FM will attest to the fact that, Monday night was special for two reasons – their super station is 20 and the station gave them a rare opportunity to celebrate Christmas before anyone else for free.

It took a group of angelic singers with supremely silky voices fast track the hands of time and bring Christmas forward. I'm talking about the world famous Gracias Choir.

Like angelic disciples, this group of musicians and actors, is the world’s best choir. A title they truly deserve.

This wasn’t the first time they were being called upon to leave a lasting impression on Ghanaians. They have never failed to live up to expectation and Monday night was no different.

By 6pm, the Athletic Oval was almost filled to capacity with enthusiasts who had their eyes fixed on the well set up stage waiting for the Christmas Cantata journey to begin.

The Gracias Choir’s three-part showpiece kicked off with the story of the birth of the Saviour, Jesus Christ.

They reenacted the story of how Jesus was born, only that this time around, they brought to bear a perfect showpiece that left patrons applauding throughout the play.

With angelic voices and a well-composed orchestra, each character on stage played their role as if their lives depended on it. If their performances were the only means of making it to heaven, they would have been offered first class tickets.

The stage itself was a masterpiece. From the lighting, sound, setup to the costume of the characters on stage, with a perfect choreography to the match, one couldn’t afford to even blink an eye during the colourful showpiece.

After several attempts to get an inn for Mary to give birth, Joseph had to settle for a manger, humble birth for a King. But what caught eyes in the telling of this all too familiar story was how the shepherds got the news.

How the crew of this wonderful production managed to show the star in the sky laced with a perfect real life background on stage was epic. The icing on that particular scene was the angels, real humans, perched up in the sky singing graciously. The applause and wild cheers for that scene seemed unending. The production team truly deserved every bit of it.

The break for the second part of the production saw eight Ghanaian kids mounting the stage to dance to some Christmas tunes. Their exciting stagecraft, costume and choreography had patrons laughing, cheering and clapping unceasingly.

For the second part of their production. The Gracias Choir gave patrons a true Christmas story of a stubborn girl, Anna. Anna was the only torn in a peaceful community that was in a near perfect Christmas mood.

When the community turned against her to teach her a lesson, Anna grew quickly to accept the fact that she was nothing without a community that loved her. The play had at its core, a message that, in spite of whatever situation, one finds himself, it is never too late to be accepted back into any family.

That production was also a masterpiece. The choreography, acting, singing and stage design were perfect! This crew knew its job and business.

The final part was the perfect icing on the cake. The Choir mounted the stage to give off their iconic performance, performances they are known for, performances that have over the years attracted the attention of Ghanaians and the world at large.

They performed Handle’s ‘Hallelujah’ first. That was followed by a local song ‘Yesu Do Me, which revealed that, of the two non-Korean members of the choir, Douglas, a Ghanaian, was the world’s best bass singer.

But the choir’s performance of ‘Nkwa Abodoo’ originally sang by KODA, had everyone on their feet. Julio, from Mexico, the second non-Korean member of the group, performed the song as if he was a Ghanaian. He performed the song with such agility. His performance, backed by the choir, was a delight to watch.

Just when the choir thought they were done, the patrons asked for “one more” performance. The crowd shouted “one more” continuously forcing the choir to heed to their request and give them one more.

The Gracias Choir capped the night’s show with a show-stopping performance of the popular song, ‘Amazing Grace’.