Who put the “merry” in “Merry Christmas”? It was clearly singer/pianist Mark Nadler, concoctor of The Big Holiday Special, a pre-Christmas fest presented at the Laurie Beechman Theatre, and starring, with him, Heather Mac Rae, Marta Sanders, Jamison Stern and Tanya Holt. A close reprise of the group’s show last year, the performance resembled an on-stage party, made up of – no surprise – delightful professionals.

“What is Christmas?” asked Mark. The answer lay in the songs.  It’s a time for children, evidenced in Heather Mac Rae’s tender rendition of “What Child Is This?” and Tanya Holt’s sweet singing of Churchill/Wallace’s “Baby Mine.” It’s chores at home stints, as Marta Sanders wryly pointed out in Kander/Ebb’s “Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.”  It can be a tough time, as Carol Hall wrote, and Heather, Marta and Tanya sang, in “Hard Candy Christmas.” Dining can be non-traditional, per Jamison Stern’s performance of Brandon Walker’s “Chinese Food for Christmas.” And, of course, the weather outside can be frightful, as Mark and Tanya cozily noted in Frank Loesser’s “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.”

What about folks outside traditional circles? Christmas is for them too, as Mark and Jamison pointed out in “Praise to the Gays and Joy to the Jew,” a musical stew concocted by Mark with seasonings by writers ranging from Irving Berlin and Jerry Herman to Felix Mendelssohn and Peter Tchaikowsky.

The show’s closing, sung by the full cast, reinforced the wish that we might enjoy “Christmas All Year ’Round.” The audience’s cheers clearly seconded the emotion.

Peter Haas
Cabaret Scenes
December 21, 2010
www.cabaretscenes.org