![]() ![]() That rings true for Con Kontos, whose family business in Airport West has been making the Carols candles since the 1970s. Ms Townsend-Booth says: ''It's just part of Melbourne.'' Viewers expect it, and tradition demands it. It's one of the only shows that no matter what the weather, the show goes on. ''It's the weather that we're at the mercy of. Some things can't be controlled - only managed when they wreak havoc. Rita Townsend Booth, a volunteer co-ordinator for Vision Australia, has worked on the show for seven years and drills her teams of volunteer ticket-checkers and candle-sellers to ensure things run smoothly. Then there's the fact that its purpose is to raise money for Vision Australia. The people love it, and that knowledge weighs on those running the event. Other capitals do it too, but Melbourne is the spiritual home. It's crucial: at Carols, Prior makes an entrance, and it works because the finery aptly heralds the silk she summons from those pipes.Ĭarols not only works, it thrives, and indeed thrills the city in which the Carols by Candlelight tradition was born in 1937. ![]() She's been busy with dress fittings for weeks. Prior obviously loves it - this will be her 21st show - and it's a frock-friendly night like few other singing gigs these days. ![]() And it's rich in curious Carols lore: think Hi-5 dancing with Santa, followed by Marina Prior trilling over a baby in the stable. Many in the audience will fall asleep 10 minutes in. It happens once a year, the telecast can never be usefully repeated except the next morning, the song list almost neverĬhanges, and the cast is familiar. Such is the detail stored in the organisational memory of Carols veterans, who have one of the strangest briefs in showbusiness. Answer: yes, the bear needs wheels, an old-time perk in the B. ![]()
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