By Heather Matthews
Staff Writer

With sibling rivalry, a lack of privacy and never a quiet place to call his own, growing up with 13 brothers and sisters was never easy for Carl Rajotte. However, once the holidays come around, Rajotte didn’t mind.

Christmas mornings spent crowding around the tree with all of his siblings in a flurry of wrapping paper, are some of Rajotte’s favorite memories from growing up. It’s the family closeness and the holiday memories that Rajotte hopes to bring to others through his production of “A Christmas Carol” at the Palace Theater.

“It’s the magic of the time that makes me want to share it with (everyone),” said Rajotte.

Written by Tchaikovsky in 1891 and 1892, “The Nutcracker Suite” has become a very important part of many people’s holiday traditions.

This is his third year directing the show, but even with close to 27 performances under his belt, Rajotte still loves the show. Although the production follows the story from the classic Charles Dickens novel, Rajotte’s “A Christmas Carol” is a musical, putting a new twist on a holiday tradition.

“It is kind of special,” said Rajotte. “There are a lot of straight plays of ‘A Christmas Carol’ or ‘Scrooge.’ All of them are very dark, very gloomy. But, in this show, everyone is energetic and bright and colorful except for Scrooge.”

While Rajotte continuously finds ways to make his production of “A Christmas Carol” fresh through new special effects and dances, Patricia Lavoie and Southern New Hampshire Dance Theater presents the traditional “Nutcracker” to audiences at the Palace. Although backdrops and costumes are upgraded every year, the choreography, music and story remain the same.

“I have this relative that looks forward to watching ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ on TV. To remake that, to change that would kill it,” she said. “(The Nutcracker) is a classic tradition.”

Lavoie’s “Nutcracker” features close to 50 dancers and is accompanied by a live orchestra. Several guest dancers from New York City, including Amy Von Handorf, a graduate of SNHDT, as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Benjamin Briones as the Snow King. “Every year there is a different shape that it takes,” said Von Handorf.

“It’s very challenging,” said Briones, who has been dancing the “Nutcracker” for 15 years. “It’s different night to night. There’s always a different place, a different city, different tempos, different partners.”

The Palace’s holiday season has become a family tradition for many. Productions like “A Christmas Carol” and the “Nutcracker” are some of the biggest ticket sellers of the year for the theater. According to Rajotte, the holidays are what draw so many to the theater.

“A lot of people are introduced to theater or the ballet or music at Christmas time,” said Rajotte. “People remember their first experiences and are bringing it to their children.”

For Lavoie, artistic director of SNHDT, it wouldn’t be the holidays with out these productions.

“(The shows) are fun and festive,” she said. “The holidays wouldn’t be the same without the ‘Nutcracker.’ In American society, the Nutcracker had become a tradition like caroling. It’s part of the holiday season. Who gets sick of Christmas? We do it every year.”