The very first Christmas Serenade in December of 2016 was mostly an experiment. The Board of Directors and Ashley Underwood, the director of the Serenade, weren't really sure what to expect. SWPH had just hosted a wonderfully successful 50th Anniversary show, and everyone thought a yearly event celebrating the talents of our SWPH performers would be a good way to raise some extra money and offer the city of Clinton a Christmas Community event.

That first year, the Christmas Serenade raised $1,960.00, a number the board and the director were extremely pleased with. There were approximately 100 attendees, and about 20 people in the cast. SWPH declared it a success, and looked forward to the following year.

The 2nd Serenade showed everyone that that $1,960.00 was something that could be and would be blown out of the water. With the additions of sponsors, and an ever-growing silent auction, the 2nd Serenade brought in over $4,000.00! That was over twice the amount from the previous year. The 3rd Serenade continued to grow, raising $4,823.00, and this year, Ashley said her goal was to break $5,000.00.

Little did she know she was dreaming too small.

After all of the money was counted twice. After all of the checks were received in the mail, the 4th Annual Christmas Serenade, with over 200 attendees and 38 cast members, raised $7,300.00. The Board of Directors will decide how best to use these funds to help make the theater an even better place to perform and be a patron. Now that the new seating is in place, the sky is the limit, and the future is looking very bright for Southwest Playhouse.

Thank you again to our amazing patrons for making the Christmas Serenade so successful. Don't miss our next production, Seussical the Musical, in February of 2020!