Raising voices and pointing toes exuberantly in song this holiday season, the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC (GMCW) presents The Holiday Show — their annual holiday extravaganza — at the Lincoln Theatre. Under the baton of Artistic Director Theo Kano, Associate Conductor C. Paul Heins, and Assistant Conductor Ronté Pierce, this festive evening is a cheery antidote to the cold winds of the last few weeks.
Celebrating holiday music and traditions from all around the world, this year’s Holiday Show also acts as a preview for their International Choral Festival coming to DC in June 2025 for the World Pride Festival. Singing in Spanish and Hebrew, Yoruba and Tagalog, this year’s set was joyful, playful, and delightfully thoughtful.
From the loud and boisterous “Christmas Isn’t Christmas ‘Til You Get Here,” “Betelehemu,” and the entertaining “TeXmas Hold ‘Em” to the mindful and still “Silent Night” and “See Amid the Winter’s Snow/Lo How a Rose,” The Holiday Show showcased the full range of the season with enough energy to turn any Grinch or Scrooge into a holiday fan. Additional standouts were the charming “Hanukkah Rhapsody” with soloists Alex Domini and Will Prater and the touching “Love Is Christmas” with soloist Valerie Flores.
Adding dimension (and often cheekiness) to many of the numbers were the dancers of 17th Street Dance. Sometimes, Santa and his reindeer broke out the tap shoes; sometimes, there was matching flannel and some impressive glove work, and other times, the chaps were on full display to mischievous hoots and hollers from all. The gracefulness of “Paso Na Sinta Ko” and the coordination of “Ang Pasko Ay Sumapit” were also great to watch, adding fun layers to the voices of the chorus.
All of the GMCW’s small ensembles of the chorus also featured in the concert experience. The GenOUT Youth Chorus, with “Sanna Sannanina” and “I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” shone with enthusiasm and harmony. The acapella Potomac Fever performed “My Grown-Up Christmas List,” with solos by Gia-Ninh Chuang, Jay Malavé, and Cooper Westbrook, and ended in laughter with the always enjoyable Straight No Chaser adaptation of the “12 Days of Christmas/Africa” (soloists Steven Shi, Shawn Morris, Kevin Thomason, and Jack Marsh) guaranteed to make you smile. Rock Creek Singers presented the contemplative “Cold Moon” and the phenomenal Seasons of Love brought down the house with “Give Love on Christmas Day” (soloist Gabriel Lopez) and “Now Behold the Lamb” (with solos by Chris Murphy and Freddie Quimbley).
Ensuring that the spectacle sparkled as brightly as possible was the creative work “behind the scenes.” Production design by Chipper Dean, lighting design by Solomon HaileSelassie, costume design by Jeffery Hollands, and choreography (even choral-ography) by Danny Aldous, Craig Cipollini, James Ellzy, and Matt Zagorski all added flair and fun to the performance. Equally important were the musicals of the World Music Collective, starting the evening off with a wonderful pre-concert set, with concert instrumentalists Theodore Guerrant on piano, Arnold Gottleib on bass, and Danny Villanueva on percussion.
Playing for only one more weekend, The Holiday Show by the GMCW is absolutely a merry way to keep this holiday season bright. A celebration of love, home, peace, and community at a time when the world needs more of exactly that, The Holiday Show compels you to open your heart, your ears, and your arms to those around you.
Running Time: One hour and 45 minutes, no intermission.
The Holiday Show plays December 14 and 15, 2024, presented by Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC performing at the Lincoln Theatre – 1215 U Street NW, Washington, DC. Purchase tickets (starting at $20) online.
The program for The Holiday Show is online here.
SONG LIST
Preshow: WORLD MUSIC COLLECTIVE
“Ishkar”
Music by Deepak Ram
“Longing”
Music by Cristian Perez
“Treseros son”
Music by Noah Getz
“Caravan”
Music by Juan Tizol
GAY MEN’S CHORUS OF WASHINGTON, DC, WORLD MUSIC COLLECTIVE, and 17TH STREET DANCE
“Christmas Isn’t Christmas ‘Til You Get Here”
Music and lyrics by Kylie Minogue, Steve Anderson, and Karen Poole
Arranged by Chad Weirick
GAY MEN’S CHORUS OF WASHINGTON, DC and WORLD MUSIC COLLECTIVE
“Feliz Navidad”
Music and lyrics by José Feliciano
Arranged by Tim Sarsany
GAY MEN’S CHORUS OF WASHINGTON, DC
“Winter Proverbs”
Music by Frances Farrell
Texts from Chinese, English, German, Guinean, & Irish proverbs
“Ode to the West Wind” by Percy Bysshe Shelley
GAY MEN’S CHORUS OF WASHINGTON, DC and 17TH STREET DANCE
“Paso Na Sinta Ko”
Traditional Filipino Christmas Carol
Music and lyrics by Francis Dandan, and Aureo Estanislao
Arranged by Bobby Buchanan
“Ang Pasko Ay Sumpait”
Traditional Filipino Christmas Carol
Music and lyrics by Vicente Rubi and Levi Celerio
Arranged by Bobby Buchanan
GenOUT YOUTH CHORUS
“Sanna Sannanina”
South African Folk Song/African Folk Song
Arranged by Catherine DeLanoy
“I’ll Be Home For Christmas”
Music and lyrics by Walter Kent and Kim Gannon
Arranged by Paul Langford
GAY MEN’S CHORUS OF WASHINGTON, DC and GenOUT YOUTH CHORUS
“Peace, Salaam, Shalom”
Music and lyrics by Pat Humphries and Sandy Opatow
GAY MEN’S CHORUS OF WASHINGTON, DC
“Silent Night”
Music and lyrics by Franz Gruber
Arranged by Dan Forrest
Soloist: Samilet Lee
“Betelehemu”
Music and lyrics by Via Olatunji
Arranged by Wendell Whalum
Soloists: Dorian Amero, Alex Bowen, Perry Medlin, and Micah Yarbrough
GAY MEN’S CHORUS OF WASHINGTON, DC and 17TH STREET DANCE
“The Man with the Bag”
Music and lyrics by Irving Taylor, Dudley Brooks, and Harold Stanley
Arranged by David Maddux
POTOMAC FEVER
“My Grown-Up Christmas List”
Music and lyrics by David Foster and Linda Thompson Jenner
Arranged by Pentatonix
Soloists: Gia-Ninh Chuang, Jonathan Malavé, and Cooper Westbrook
“12 Days of Christmas/Africa”
Music and lyrics by Music and lyrics by Frederic Austin, David Paich, and Jeffrey T. Porcaro
Arranged by Richrd Gregory and Ken Purchase
Soloists: Steven Shi, Shawn Morris, Kevin Thomason, and Jack Marsh
GAY MEN’S CHORUS OF WASHINGTON, DC and 17TH STREET DANCE
“Favorite One”
Music and lyrics by Cy Coleman, Betty Comden, and Adolph Green
GAY MEN’S CHORUS OF WASHINGTON, DC
“Hanukkah Rhapsody”
Based on Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 by Franz Liszt
Arrangement and lyrics by Eric Lane Barnes
Soloists: Alex Domini and Will Prater
ROCK CREEK SINGERS
“Cold Moon”
Music and lyrics by Nicholas Ryan Kelly
GAY MEN’S CHORUS OF WASHINGTON, DC and ROCK CREEK SINGERS
“See Amid the Winter’s Snow/Lo How A Rose”
Music and lyrics by Edward Caswall
Additional Lyrics by S.K. Hill
Arranged by Eugene Butler
Adapted for TTBB chorus by M. Howarth
SEASONS OF LOVE
“Give Love on Christmas Day”
Music and lyrics by Freddie Perren, Alphonso Mizell, Christine Yarian, Berry Gordy, and Deke Richards
Arranged by Ronté Pierce
Soloist: Gabriel Lopez
Piano: Kevin Huang
“Now Behold the Lamb”
Music and lyrics by Kirk Franklin
Arranged by Ronté Pierce
Soloists: Chris Murphy and Freddie Quimbley
Piano: Kevin Huang
GAY MEN’S CHORUS OF WASHINGTON, DC
“Love is Christmas”
Music and lyrics by Sara Bareilles
Soloist: Valerie Flores
GAY MEN’S CHORUS OF WASHINGTON, DC and 17TH STREET DANCE
“TeXmas Hold ‘Em”
Music and lyrics by Beyoncé Knowles, Brian Vincent Bates, Raphael Saadiq, Elizabeth Boland, Megan Buelow, and Nathan Farraro
Arranged by Charles Beale
Parody lyrics by Zac Barger
