There was the American pop band, The Jackson 5, and now, for Queenstown’s Christmas show, on December 11, there’s The Hamilton 5.
The cast of 12 Bells of Christmas include Dana and Marc Hamilton and their daughters Indy, 14, Scarlett, 12 and Willow, 10.
Dana plays Granny, Marc’s again Santa, Indy and Scarlett play, respectively, Smarty and Freaky — two of the five children tasked by Granny to collect 12 bells to make Christmas happen — and Willow’s in the ensemble.
Indy’s been in the Christmas shows since she was nine, Scarlett debuted about two years later and Willow came onboard last year — in fact, Dana was the only family member not on stage last year.
Dana and Indy also starred in Showbiz Queenstown’s School of Rock The Musical this year — the former, exhibiting a superb singing voice, played prep school principal Rosalie Mullins and Indy was one of the students, Summer.
Ahead of next weekend’s show, Dana says she’s ‘‘super-proud’’ of her daughters.
‘‘They’ve all stepped up and shaken off a few fears.
‘‘It definitely helps having all your sisters there to encourage you and support you, and they can practise together at home and do the dances together and no one’s missed out, which is really good.’’
Dana says her girls grew up with music — ‘‘they’ve been sung to since I was pregnant with them’’.
And for a long time Marc has headed his own family band, The Hamiltones, whose original members include his dad, Ivan, and sister Stacey McDonald.
