So Much to Love: December is Brimming with Holiday Cheer

On Monday, December 2 at 8 p.m., join us live in the studio (that's always fun!) as we present a traditional holiday favorite, Happy Holidays: The Best of the Andy Williams Christmas Shows and a brand new Celtic Woman: Home For Christmas.

Happy Holidays: The Best of the Andy Williams Christmas Shows features classic clips of various Christmas specials from The Andy Williams Show. Filling homes with seasonal cheer, the specials became a cherished holiday family tradition. The digitally re-mastered production numbers are complete with magnificent sets and costumes and a cast of singers, dancers, and skaters. Quintessential moments include Williams’s solos of “Silent Night” and “Ave Maria,” as well as performances with his brothers for “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” and with the Osmonds for “Silver Bells.” Interviews with Williams, and Bobby and Donny Osmond are interwoven with the show clips.

At 9:30 p.m., Celtic Woman: Home For Christmas stars vocalists Lisa Lambe, Susan McFadden, Meav Ni Mhaolchatha and Celtic violinist Mairead Nesbitt, performing timeless holiday favorites ("Silent Night," I'll Be Home For Christmas," "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear," "Joy To The World") with their signature Celtic twist under the distinct musical direction of Emmy-nominated music producer, David Downes. Home For Christmas, directed by Russell Thomas and filmed at Dublin's Helix Theatre, is both a visual and aural feast. Complimented by Ireland's finest musicians comprised of a 36-piece orchestra and the 40-member Philharmonic Choir, this large-scale production promises to be a moving and festive celebration of the music cherished for generations.

Tuesday, December 3, starting at 7 p.m., we showcase some of your favorite Brit-Coms in special episodes: Last of the Summer Wine is a holiday episode, As Time Goes By: You Must Remember This starts around 7:45 p.m., and at about 9:15, tune in for a Waiting for God holiday episode. Plus, as a live night from our studio, you can count on some surprises.

On Wednesday, December 4, we "wrap" our live studio presence with the remarkable story of courage, strength, and ingenuity, Alone in the Wilderness, beginning at 7:30 p.m. At 9 p.m., rock the house with Joe Bonamassa: Live from Royal Albert Hall, followed by a beautiful local documentary at 10:30 p.m., Guitar #1711.


In 1967, at age 50, Dick Proenneke traveled to the Twin Lakes region in Alaska and built himself a log cabin on the lake shore. With only skill and resourcefulness as his companions, it was there, amid all the beauty – and harshness – of Alaska, that he spent the next 30 years of his life, Alone in the Wilderness.

Alone in the Wilderness, produced by Bob Swerer, uses color footage Proenneke recorded himself to share with his family back home in Iowa. Filmed mostly with a stationary 16mm camera, the film consists of shots of Proenneke performing tasks around his cabin, canoeing, walking, plus views of wildlife, along with narration.

With more than 3,000 feet of film shot by Proenneke, and meticulous, poetic journals written, his adventures in Alaska resulted in three films, edited and produced by Swerer Productions. Alone in the Wilderness, released in 2003, covers Proenneke's first year in the wilderness, showing his day-to-day activities, and the passing of the seasons as he sought to scratch out a living. 

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When Joe Bonamassa took the stage Live at Royal Albert Hall in May 2009, he fulfilled a dream he'd held since first picking up a guitar as a kid in upstate New York. The sold-out concert--fresh off the release of his #1 album The Ballad of John Henry -- marked Bonamassa's headlining debut at arguably the most prestigious concert venue in the world. At the Hall, Bonamassa had the added honor of being joined onstage by the legendary Eric Clapton. The Times of London cited Joe's "searing excellence and showmanship," and Planet Rock said, "The sight of two of the world's best guitarists trading solos was more than a little thrilling."

Intimate and Lyrical, It's the Making of Guitar #1711

Guitar #1711 is a documentary film about Rhode Island guitar maker Otto D’Ambrosio, directed by Rhode Island-based filmmaker Guy Benoit. The film is an intimate and lyrical portrait of the artistic process, following D’Ambrosio through the creation -- start to finish -- of an acoustic archtop guitar, hand made for renowned jazz guitarist and Berklee College of Music Instructor Julian Lage (Gary Burton Band, Nels Cline, Jim Hall). The film culminates with a live concert performance by Lage, playing guitar #1711. Rhode Island PBS shares this documentary with you on Wednesday, December 4 at 10:30 p.m.

In October 2010, D’Ambrosio and Lage first discussed the making of a custom crafted instrument -- a unique design, perfectly suited to the guitarist’s highly individual style. It took 206 days for D’Ambrosio to make the instrument, entirely by hand, using traditional tools and techniques. From the start of the build to the completion of the project, filmmaker Benoit was there to document every step of the construction. When guitar #1711 was finished, Lage premiered the instrument in concert, before a small and spellbound audience at the guitar maker’s workshop/studio in an industrial section of Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

“Guitar #1711 is an atmospheric film, and the story drifts along with a dreamy grace,” says filmmaker Benoit. “It begins and ends in a workshop, in a lonely brick mill. Along the way, D’Ambrosio and Lage take the audience on a passionate journey with their hands, as the luthier builds and the guitarist plays the extraordinary instrument in the making — guitar #1711.”

Guy Benoit is an award-winning filmmaker, whose credits include Atomic Brain (writer), and Exhumed! (writer), He has directed numerous music videos (Six Finger Satellite, Scarce, Marissa Nadler, Mark Cutler), and his work has been featured on MTV.

2014 RISCA Fellowship recipient, Rhode Island-based videographer William Smyth is the film’s director of photography.

Otto D’Ambrosio began his training in Staten Island, New York, and apprenticed with legendary guitar makers “Flip” Scipio, John Monteleone and Carl Thompson before working for Guild Guitars in Westerly, Rhode Island. Since setting off on his own to build instruments in 2001, D’Ambrosio has designed and crafted 87 unique guitars and basses. In 2004, the design of his El Rey model guitar was licensed by the Eastman Music Company for worldwide distribution.