The Holiday season is either here, or right around the corner depending on your personal preferences, and as such traditions are celebrated.
To that end, Rockford welcomes back the return of J.R. Sullivan’s Hometown Holiday at the Nordlof Center J.R. Sullivan Theater December 12 & 13.
WNIJ’s Jason Cregier caught up with the namesake of the theater, J.R. Sullivan, ahead of the upcoming shows.
(This interview has been edited for clarity.)
Jason Cregier: Hometown Holiday opened with its first performance in 1994, what keeps the creative juices flowing to continue the show year after year?
J.R. Sullivan: We used to do holiday shows and during the noon hour we called them “Christmas Cards.” There were readings, music, and comedy sketches, etc.
After I moved on from the theater, I missed doing that. At the time I was working with the musical organization Charlotte's Web, and I proposed doing one or two nights where we presented holiday stories and songs.
We decided that it was a promising idea, so we did it at Memorial Hall in Rockford and it ended up being a success. And the idea was brought back and brought back and brought back, to where Hometown Holiday ended up being this thirty-year thing.
How does it make you feel that Hometown Holiday has passed down from generation to generation? Families who attended early shows may be bringing their families to these shows and so on…
It makes me feel great when I see families attending the shows, who attended the shows when they were kids. It makes me feel that Hometown Holiday has a continuing tradition and that the shows matter to people. I am grateful that people are thankful for it.
Variety shows have not been as forefront in the mainstream over the years, like a lost art form these days. What is it like to be able to show younger generations what a variety show consists of?
That is a good point. It is a [type of] show you do not encounter very often anymore. A Prairie Home Companion was a kind of model for Hometown Holiday regarding the sketches and actors and pace of the show.
The variety show aspect corresponds well to the holiday season itself. It is a season of many colors, and many moods. A variety show like Hometown Holiday can touch on so many of them in one way or another, for one audience member or another.
I know you have not done these shows yet, but is there any interest in Hometown Holiday coming back in 2026?
Every year, I say this will be the last year for Hometown Holiday, and I am not joking.
I am thinking, “Gosh, I’ve done this show longer than my time with the New American Theatre.”
It also depends on the audience, making sure we are still connecting with them, making sure the show still has presence and purpose.
J.R. Sullivan, thanks for being with us today and Happy Holidays.
Thank you, Jason, I really appreciate it.
J.R. Sullivan’s Hometown Holiday is December 12 & 13 at the Nordlof Center J.R. Sullivan Theater in Rockford.
