Summary
A high percentage of the songs, especially in the first act, are standards like "Carol of the Bells," "We Wish You A Merry Christmas," "Silver Bells" and even Jose Feliciano's "Feliz Navidad." Along with these are unfamiliar numbers from fashionable contemporary composers, like Jason Robert Brown's "Sarabaya Santa" and Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty's "All Those Christmas Clichés." Finally, with all the wholesomeness of Midnight Mass at the Cathedral, we hear some heartfelt religious works.
As one of the best-connected directors and impresarios in town, [Dan Tursi] always knows where to look for talent. His first important choice was engaging Jeff Unaitis as music director to accompany the entire score. Unaitis is incomparable in negotiating the devilish shifts in tone, from raucous to plaintive. In the sacred trio of "Amazing Grace," "Away in a Manger" and "Some Children See Him," the counterpoint weaves with effortless grace. His sharp banter with the singers is perfectly timed. And Unaitis breaks out of character to recite key passages from the Gospel of Luke when answering the question about the meaning of Christmas. These are the same passages Linus recites in A Charlie Brown Christmas. They root the holiday in tradition without exactly proselytizing.Both [Sunny Hernandez] and [Sara Weiler] are called on for dramatic spin along with demanding vocals, sometimes together as in "Old Fashioned Sleigh Ride" and Irving Berlin's little-known and heavily sardonic "Happy New Year Blues," with [Dana Sovocool]. Wailer's best solo comes early in the first act with "All Those Christmas Cliches," which is presented in tandem with [Peter Irwin]'s "Silver Bells." Such songs are the Survival Guide part of the show. Hernandez has two very funny bits; one is the aforementioned "Twelve Steps of Christmas," and the other being "Sarabaya Santa," with the singer descending to a contralto for a faux Marlene Dietrich.See the full content of this document
Extract
Holiday On Nice
Holiday on Nice
Three guys and three gals mine music and mirth from A Christmas Survival GuideDan Tursi's Rarely Done Productions, which holds court at downtown's Jazz Central, 441 E. Washington St., thrives on surprising audiences. No other area company would tackle (if that's the word) an all-male versio...See the full content of this document
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