Sat. Dec. 13 and 20

Let's face it: Christmas brings out a fondness for nostalgia in all of us. I was talking with the Boston Pops Keith Lockhart about Christmas's past and mentioned one of my fond memories was with my mother in her rocking chair listening to, yes, Arthur Godfrey sing. He could barely sustain his astonishment. Arthur Godfrey was not one of the finest of singers, mind you, but for some reason my parents had this record and we played it and loved it. So there you go, nostalgia button. We bring this up because cabaret-theater performer-director-producer Eric Larivee is bringing a very particular form of Christmas nostaliga to the Roseland Ballroom in Taunton Saturday Dec. 20. It's the "1959 Christmas Cotillion" and it is, says Larivee, "a nostalgic joyride back to Eisenhower era America." This is something we never thought to consider. The Eisenhower era is sort of the lost era, isn't it? (Just ask the folks on Jay Leno's "Jaywalking" who Eisenhower is.) But, who the heck was Arthur Godfrey? He meant something to me, once, and maybe 1959 means something to to you - or maybe you'd like to see if it could. Actually, we're becoming more and more fond of anything that dispenses with cell phones and Blackberrys and high-tech gizmos and brings us back to an era of imagined (fictional?) purity.
Here's the skinny on "1959 Christmas Cotillion": Mamie Vandermeer, a recently transplanted C-list New York Society matron who's husband has been relocated to suburban Massachusetts, tries in vain to implement the holiday customs and traditions she holds dear and teach the local "natives" the graceful, genteel ways of the American Cotillion. Through hysterical hi-jinks she manages to capture "Dick Clark's American Bandstand" camera crew, and for one night only, her grand Christmas Cotillion will be televised to all the world from the Roseland Ballroom.
Larivee, who's known for his Christmas spectaculars says people will not be disappointed by this very different turn of hand: "It has everything", Larivee said, " and  incredible cast-truly spectacular, lush singing, all new, eye-popping  costumes, Ballroom dancing, gorgeous women, sparkling arrangements,  and gorgeous decor. The script is hysterical-there's nothing like it anywhere! Combining that with the amazing performances being given by the children's ensemble make these performances a delight for all ages."
The show's choreographer is internationally award-winning Ballroom 
dancer/choreographer Emily Zeller and it features 35 singers, actors and dancers. That includes the Eric Larivee Songbirds. Tickets: $20-$15, with a dinner/buffet deal for $445-$40. Cocktails at 6:30, dinner 7 and show 8.

174 Broadway, Taunton, 508-828-9189 www.RoselandProductions.com