BLOOMINGTON - It may be early May, but that's not too early to begin thinking about Christmas. Want proof? Tickets go on sale Monday for one of area's most popular community holiday shows, "The Pantagraph's Holiday Spectacular."

Now in its fifth year, the show features hundreds of Central Illinois professionals and amateurs in a holiday song and dance extravaganza.

Illinois State University's Braden Auditorium once again hosts the production, with three performances: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 7 and Dec. 8; and a 2 p.m. matinee on Dec. 9. An opening night reception sponsored by Commerce Bank will be open to the public for a small addi-tional fee.

Once again, Marcia Basolo will serve as executive producer, working with Fresh Bread Productions, Inc.

"Every year this show just gets better and better, " said Basolo. "When you have a production team with professionals like Lori Adams, John Stark, Kymberly Harris and Nancy Steele Brokaw, well, it immediately takes a community program and bumps it to a much higher level. Karen Arnold has assembled one of the best orchestras in the state, and our choreographers work their magic with dancers ranging from 4-year-olds to the precision dance teams that could rival those in New York. And behind the scenes Sue Henrichs, our new business manager, and Cathy Holbrook, who added web master duties to her stage manager role are an integral part of the team."

Many of the performers, actors and musicians have been with the show since its inception. Even some of the non-human acts are returning, including Wally the camel and his llama sidekick. A second camel, Mowgli, is joining the act this year.

"The Pantagraph is proud to continue to sponsor this wonderful holiday show. It's become a family tradition for so many people in Central Illinois," said Jonell Kehias, the Pantagraph's marketing services manager. "Marcia has put together such a great pro-duction team. I can't wait to see what they are coming up with for our milestone five-year show."

Tickets are available at the Braden Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster.com by telephone at (309) 438-5444. For more information, visit www.holidayspectacular.org