The Western Front: Christmas 1914. Out of the violence of World War I, a silence, then a song. 

The Gallo Center Repertory Company will bring back a holiday favorite, “All is Calm,” based on a historic event that brought peace in the midst of war. 

Late on Christmas Eve 1914, men of the British Expeditionary Force heard German troops in the trenches opposite them singing carols and patriotic songs and saw lanterns and small fir trees along their trenches. A German soldier stepped into ‘no man’s land’ singing “Stille Nacht.” Messages began to be shouted between the trenches.

The following day, British and German soldiers met in no man’s land and exchanged gifts, took photographs and some played impromptu games of football. They also buried casualties and repaired trenches and dugouts. After Boxing Day, meetings in no man’s land dwindled out.

An a cappella chorale, “All Is Calm” is the remarkable true story in the words and songs of the men who lived it. The musical is written by Peter Rothstein, with vocal arrangements by Erick Lichte and Timothy C. Takach. 

The musical blends iconic WWI patriotic tunes, trench songs, medieval ballads, and Christmas carols from England, Wales, France, Belgium, and Germany with texts woven from letters, autobiographies, poetry, gravestone inscriptions, and an old radio broadcast.

“All Is Calm” debuted as a live broadcast on Minnesota Public Radio in 2007 and has since toured the U.S. as a production, playing in such venues as The Kennedy Center, Cal Performances, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The GCRC’s production of “All is Calm” will be directed by Modesto native Roberta Inscho, with music direction by Modesto music powerhouse Polly Vasché.

“We last presented it in 2021 and it received rave reviews. Audiences loved it and asked for us to bring it back,” said Ryan Foy, director of produced theatre and special programming at the Gallo.

“All is Calm” will be at the Gallo at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 14 and 20 and 3 p.m. Dec. 15, 21 and 22.