In­nis Fran­cis

The John Thomas mu­si­cal pro­duc­tion Be­lieve: Christ­mas Around the World, was staged for the first time in eight years in San Fer­nan­do at Na­pari­ma Bowl.

The star-stud­ded cast in­clud­ed reign­ing Ca­lyp­so Monarch Ta’zyah O’Con­nor, Ca­lyp­so Queen Temi­ka Dar­ius, South Ju­nior Ca­lyp­so Monarch Xhaiden Dar­ius and Queen of Chut­ney Katelin Sul­tan, as well as the St Hi­laire Broth­ers, Cur­tis Jor­dan, Justin Zephyrine, Rose, Ali­cia Jages­sar, Farouk Mo­hammed Jr, Anya Bidaisee, Ma­halia Pierre and Ce­cil­ia Salazar.

Cast mem­ber Heather Dick­son said the show is usu­al­ly held a week be­fore Christ­mas each year, and this year the pro­duc­tion team took a “leap of faith” to host the show in south Trinidad.

Part pro­ceeds will go to the He­roes Foun­da­tion, an NGO geared to­wards em­pow­er­ing chil­dren to over­come life’s chal­lenges and fos­ter­ing pos­i­tive changes in homes, schools and com­mu­ni­ties.

The con­cert, a cel­e­bra­tion of the rich cul­tur­al ta­pes­try of Trinidad and To­ba­go, has evolved in­to a re­flec­tion of the coun­try’s mul­ti-tal­ent­ed spir­it, blend­ing lo­cal au­then­tic­i­ty with in­ter­na­tion­al ap­peal. This year’s per­for­mances breathes life in­to the time­less mes­sage of the Christ­mas sea­son—hope, grace, and good­will, Thomas said.

The song-list fea­tured 24 acts that spanned var­i­ous gen­res, from jazz to gospel, R&B to pop, and rap from var­i­ous cul­tures, lan­guages and tra­di­tions.

More pic­tures on Page 27