OWN has set December 5 for the premiere of Tapping into Christmas, a new holiday film starring Corinne Foxx and Debbie Allen, as part of the network’s eighth annual OWN for the Holidays programming event. The trailer and official synopsis were revealed exclusively to PEOPLE.
The film follows Jeni Walker, played by Foxx, a theater producer whose career in New York stalls, prompting her to return home to Memphis, Tennessee, for Christmas. There, she discovers her childhood community theater, Heritage House, is on the verge of closing. Jeni teams up with her sisters, Cora and Mable, played by Chloé Arnold and Maud Arnold, to stage a holiday tap showcase in an effort to save the theater, reconnecting with her own love of performing along the way with help from musician Chance, played by D Smoke. Allen stars as Ms. Dianne, Jeni’s mentor and the owner of Heritage House, while Obba Babatundé plays Mr. Duncan, Jeni’s childhood tap instructor.
The film was created and choreographed by Chloé and Maud Arnold, the real-life sisters behind the internationally recognized tap company Syncopated Ladies, bringing their own choreography background directly into the story’s central dance sequences.
In the trailer, Jeni initially treats her early return home as a welcome break, only to be challenged by Ms. Dianne to produce a full tap showcase to help save the theater. The film also touches on Jeni’s past trauma around performing, revealing that an injury she sustained during a prior production left her too afraid to return to the stage, and that she’d distanced herself from her sisters out of a fear that they no longer needed her as part of their act. Her sisters push back on that belief directly, reaffirming that their relationship as sisters comes first.
OWN president Tina Perry described the film as a celebration of music, dance, and community, distinct from the network’s more traditional holiday romance offerings. Tapping into Christmas premieres Saturday, December 5, at 9 p.m. ET/PT on OWN.