With all the great events that take the stage at Battle Creek's historic W.K. Kellogg Auditorium, from professional theater tours hosted by the National Touring Network to productions of the Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra, it's nice to see every seat in the auditorium filled.

This was the case Saturday night, when the Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra joined forces with the Battle Creek Boychoir, The Battle Creek Girls' Chorus and the Battle Creek Community Chorus with special guest Doug LaBrecque for a sell-out, monstrous crowd for the special "Holiday on Broadway" program.

Such a joint effort should be an annual tradition not only because it shows that Battle Creek has close to 200 talented artists of a wide variety of ages but that the city has hundreds of spectators wise enough to buy tickets to watch, listen and enjoy this spectacular show.

Despite featuring the four-organization collaboration, the true highlight of the evening was the return of Battle Creek native Doug LaBrecque, who has gone on to perform on Broadway and across the country, as a special guest vocal artist.

LaBrecque's magnificent talents become clear immediately as he belts out such popular Broadway fare as Begin the Beguine,Fascinatin' Rhythm and This is the Moment from Broadway's latest hit Jekyll & Hyde. LaBrecque revealed his love for his family and his hopes and dreams, sharing impassioned and moving renderings of Over the Rainbow and The Rose, for which he shared the stage with two of his sisters.

LaBrecque's crystal-clear voice registered perfectly throughout the auditorium most of the time. The evening's only flaw fell to the sound engineers who needed to boost LaBrecque's levels unless they intended him to be drowned out by all the choirs and the symphony playing and singing in forte.

Whereas the first half of the show featured LaBrecque's vocal stylings accompanied by Wayne Barker as pianist and the symphony orchestra as musical partner, the second half featured the boychoir and girls' chorus in tandem with the symphony followed by the community chorus and the symphony. LaBrecque returned in the second half as well and added a humourous touch by singing a mock operatic version of Let It Snow and "singing" a duet with his brother, a butchered version of New York, New York with a "Harper Creek" theme.

LaBrecque, chorus and symphony closed the show with Oh Holy Night, a beautifully orchestrated arrangement by Wayne Barker with a Silent Night interlude.

Though the evening seemed complete and perfectly wonderful, LaBrecque put a finishing touch to the show by performing a number from Phantom for the encore. LaBrecque played the role of the Phantom in the Toronto production of Phantom of the Opera.

With the symphony one concert away from its 100-year anniversary (February), "Holiday on Broadway" was the third in a spectacular 1998-99 season.