OK, kids, these sixteen songs were all written for this concert. All new compositions, some heard for the very first time here. There were hits and misses, but even the misses had merit.
The concert started off with a terrific a cappella quartet singing You Feel the Christmas Spirit When … It turns out that the when was when you learned that most of your favorite Christmas songs were written by Jews! Oddly, J.C.T. (which stands for Jewish Christmas Tree) featured a rabbi who loved Christmas and commented that many beloved Christmas songs were written by Jews.
A Cautionary Tale was quite amusing. Grandpa went out to hunt down the last buck whose herd had been destroying his garden/forest. He proudly proclaimed, “The buck stops here.” When grandpa didn’t return in a timely manner, searchers went out to find him. Dead. With five holes in his chest. Antler holes. Christmasy? No. Funny? Hell, yeah.
Two of the sixteen were titled At Christmastime. Both were slightly downers. Yep, it happens (apparently twice, to different composers/lyricists).
Also in the amusing court were Christmas in a Coffee Shop (hey, money was tight that year) and Camping for Christmas. The latter featured a giant RV (not literally) that arrived with the requisite giant bow on top. Twelve-year-old Kaylin Hedges (who did a bang-up job) lamented about the lame idea of going camping for Christmas. Guess what? She ended up loving it—the fire, the stars, the camaraderie with family—what’s not to love?
I have to mention Playin’ Santa, composed (and sung) by Jay Alan Zimmerman. He’s deaf. He composes and sings. Let that sink in. And the song was lots of fun.
A Hanukah (their spelling) Song for Mama was also a lot of fun. The kids (brother and sister, but two guys singing here—welcome to the theater!) had to sing for their Hanukah presents; Mama wanted to see/hear the result of all those lessons. As the cherry on top, the composer’s Mama was in the audience. And, yes, she loved the song.
Once again, I had a great time, as did the other audience members. I do believe there will be more Songbooks in my future.
ConcertMeister
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