Don’t miss ‘The Munro Review on CMAC’ holiday special. It’s a star-studded arts spectacular!
By Donald Munro
After so many episodes, we’ve lost count. Seriously, a side note to producer Kyle Lowe: Is it even possible to tally the number of episodes we’ve made over all these years, or have we entered grains-of-sand territory? Now it’s time to get ready for the biggest one of all:
I present to you “The Munro Review on CMAC Snowed-In Holiday Special.”
There are so many first/superlatives to tell you about this episode. For example:
It’s the longest TMR show ever! Clocking in at a network-TV-style two hours, the program doesn’t go quite as long as the Oscars, but it’s WAY longer than your average 40-minute “Tonight” show episode (minus commercials). In terms of timing, think in terms of one of those “Bachelor” season finales (but with no reunion attended by studio audience. Maybe next year.)
It’s the most guests ever! It takes the earlier record (three sets of guests) and shreds it, IRS-style. The lineup features a whopping 14 sets of guests, a figure that includes enough cellos to populate a crew team (nine of them plus the esteemed Thomas Loewenheim, all repping Fresno State); and also Tillie (my poodle). When you account for multi-person ensembles, we welcome 30 people on screen. No wonder we ran out of cookies backstage.
It’s the most arts disciplines ever! We have vocals, guitar, saxophone, paintings, holiday carols, wisdom from the Ghost of Christmas Past, jokes from Ben Boone, and absolutely no karaoke from Heather Parish. (She put her foot down). Also, Santa shows up. We did not pay him union scale.
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It’s the best storyline ever! I’m convinced I will pick up a daytime Emmy for my portrayal of Donald, the hapless CMAC host who is snowed in during the big Fresno blizzard of 2023. You’re gonna want to hang on my scene in which I say “So what are we going to do?” The idea is that I then put out an all-points bulletin on air asking people to come to the studio to rescue me. But because they’re all arts folks, they’d much rather take the opportunity to perform. (The premise was brazenly stolen from late-night god Stephen Colbert, who once did a holiday schedule once in which his show got snowed in.)
It has the most famous names ever! Where else could you see together such Fresno-area arts luminaries as Janice Noga (of “Janka” and Rogue Festival fame), Melinda Salicido and Darren Tharp of “Once,” Chris Janzen of Fresno Pacific University, and Terry Lewis of (side note to self: upload thumbnail drive with the list of every theater production ever performed in Fresno). Plus: Cady and Frances Mejias of Children’s Musical Theaterworks’ “The Sound of Music,” Roger Christensen of “A Christmas Carol,” an ensemble from the Fresno Master Chorale, Alondra Vasquez of Shine !Theatre and FPU’s “Black Nativity,” and Doug Hoagland of Measure P (well, not exactly, but you get the idea). I already mentioned Ben Boone, whom you’ve probably seen or heard at his most mellow. Now’s your chance to witness him in a manic whirlwind that suggests someone slipped amphetamines into Santa’s Christmas cookies.
It has a dream sequence! Again, Emmy judges, please note my acting chops.
It left me more exhausted than ever! After a marathon six-and-a-half hour afternoon/evening taping session, I walked out ready to sleep for days. Thanks to Kyle and to our expert floor crew (Jeff Stamps, Ben Cruz and Will Freeney), I got through it without medical intervention. A lot of hard work went into this show, so the least you can do is watch it. Kidding. Not really.
It’s all as free as ever! “The Munro Review on CMAC” streams on YouTube at your command. And if you prefer appointment TV, you can catch a special screening of the holiday special on CMAC Channel 1 (Comcast 93, AT&T 99) at noon on Christmas Day.
Finally, now that I’ve broken every admonition I’ve ever given my Fresno State journalism students about overusing exclamation marks, I will make one small (a tiny, teensy, Lawrence-Livermore-atom-sized) pitch:
Please consider supporting The Munro Review financially when you’re making your end-of-year charitable gifts. This website is under the fiscal sponsorship of CMAC, a registered 501 (c)3 organization, and all memberships and donations are tax deductible. In fact, I’ll give you the details right here! (Sorry about that one last exclamation mark.)
Tax-deductible memberships start at $5 a month, and you can make a one-time donation of as little as $3. (Paid memberships help keep the site running, and paid members get special members-only benefits. Please consider a paid membership in support of independent, local arts journalism.) A free membership option is available, which includes the opportunity to enter ticket giveaways.
