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Sunday, Mar 21, 2010
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Seattle choruses celebrate the holidays |
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| Seattle choruses celebrate the holidays | ||
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Seattle Men's Chorus' Fruitcake December 6-22, with special guest Jennifer Holliday December 7-8 Benaroya Hall This year, Seattle Men's Chorus celebrates 10 years at Benaroya Hall, their beloved holiday home. The 2008 holiday concert, Fruitcake, is soaked in spirits with a bit of spice, nuts, and fruit tossed in for fun. It includes a healthy mix of musical selections to make you laugh, cry, and reminisce. Two of the Seattle concerts include special guest Grammy and Tony-award winner Jennifer Holliday, on December 7 and 8. And with this addition of a little "Holliday" for the holidays, audiences will delight in taking home the truly unforgettable experience of witnessing this award winner share her legendary vocal power live! Tickets go on sale online on November 1, www.flyinghouse.org, and by phone on November 3, (206) 388-1400. Jennifer Holliday's show-stopping, heart-wrenching performance of the torch ballad "And I'm Telling You, I'm Not Going" in the smash hit Broadway musical, Dreamgirls, made her a household name and introduced her big soulful voice to the world. It also garnered her both a Tony and Grammy Award. She has been crowned a "singer's singer;" a truly electrifying performer who delivers her songs with deep passion and sincere emotion. Her soulful and throaty style touches hearts and leaves audiences moved with inspiration and spirits soaring. Holliday has gained a reputation as a proponent of LGBT causes, performing at numerous Pride festivals. Of course, no Seattle Men's Chorus concert entitled Fruitcake would be complete without a healthy dose of reindeer doing the habanera, Saint Nick in a bluegrass band, or tenors singing a falsetto polka. The movement-based songs performed by the men always bring down the house. So this year's "Stomp the Halls," an original composition by Eric Lane Barnes, is sure to have everyone stomping, clapping, and snapping in merry measure. The very funny Scott Warrander has written the concert's title piece, "That Fruitcake Song," an homage to the cake that won't die. SMC's small ensemble Captain Smartypants will open each act of the show. The opening of Act II will feature a rendition of "We Three Kings" containing a few smarty-pants edits (there are nine kings, three of whom are Elvis). "The highlight of the concert," as artistic director Dennis Coleman explains, "is the touching piece titled 'The Promise,' co-commissioned with the Gay Men's Chorus of Houston, the Heartland Men's Chorus, and the Philadelphia Gay Men's Chorus." With music by Robert Seeley, "The Promise" features nine songs, three soloists, and a six-piece chamber orchestra. Robert Espindola's text is a miraculous WWII story of a young soldier making his way home to his family for Christmas. Coleman continues, "Although this is not an editorial on contemporary wars, this piece has a strong emotional pull, focusing on those who have lost their sons and daughters on foreign soil." Year after year audiences have enjoyed watching the Chorus join Kevin Gallagher, the group's longtime interpreter, as he signs to the pieces. Most often the Chorus signs to "Silent Night." This year the Chorus will sign to "New Words," a song from the musical In the Beginning by Maury Yeston. (Yeston is best known for composing the score to the Broadway musical Nine.) It's a charming piece combined with two others to form an ephemeral star set: "I Cannot Count the Stars," originally commissioned and performed by the Turtle Creek Chorale and Eric Whitacre's hauntingly beautiful "Lux Arumque." However holiday tradition reigns and the Seattle Men's Chorus will not disappoint as they perform their renditions of classic favorites, "Silver Bells," "Ave Maria," and "Deck the Halls." Seattle Women's Chorus' Dressed in Holiday Style December 13-14 Meany Theater Be sure to come Dressed in Holiday Style this December and join Seattle Women's Chorus for their sixth annual holiday concert at Meany Theater in Seattle on November 13 and 14, and at McIntyre Hall in Mount Vernon on November 9. With the full accompaniment by the Rainbow City Band (Seattle only), Seattle Women's Chorus takes audiences on a musical tour of holiday traditions as they are celebrated in many of Seattle's diverse and dynamic neighborhoods: West Seattle, Fremont, Capitol Hill and more. "It's Christmastime in the city, and on every street corner you'll hear&" The Women's Chorus has teamed up with a cadre of local composers including Scott Warrender (The Texas Chainsaw Manicurist, Das Barbecü) to present a holiday celebration that dares ask the musical question: what makes Seattle so wonderful? Each new neighborhood carol highlights the area's unique flavors, quirks and cultural aspects. "I wanted to bring this concert directly home," said Dennis Coleman, artistic director of SWC. "Seattle is like a collection of little cities, or towns and each of them sparkle in their own way." Warrender's Capitol Hill carol, entitled "Block By Block," celebrates and skewers the diverse characters one sees on Broadway. "One block naughty, One block nice, One block wild, inflated price / One block have one, One block not, One block just an empty lot!" Brenda David and Eric Lane Barnes tackled West Seattle in "West Seattle , Ho!" Their composition mixes the history of Seattle settlers on Alki with the rather posh life many live now. "Their hardscrabble life leaves them high and dry, with just one Starbucks out on Alki / We'll bring them light, we'll bring them cheer, we'll bring Christmas to the lonely West Seattle pioneer." "What I like about this concert," said Dennis Coleman, "is that it is such a playful mix of old and new, funny and sweet, haunting and rousing." Much of the concert will be accompanied by the Rainbow City Band, fondly referred to as "the pride of Seattle." Conducted by Michael Clark, this 60-piece wind orchestra will join the Women's Chorus and shake the rafters of Meany Theater with dazzling holiday exuberance. A Seattle Men's and Women's Chorus press release |
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