SRT’s Christmas by Wayne Kirkbride
A Sinatra Holiday Bash: Christmas My Way
Leigh Cara Hussman, Eric Weaver, Katherine McLaughlin and Michael Voddee sing up Sinatra favorites with his legendary cool. Photo by Rich Miller Photography.
It’s that time of the season where Christmas movies start appearing, and TV reworks classic favorites from the past. Sierra Repertory Theatre has elected to present their version of holiday entertainment by combining the holiday season with a tribute to Frank Sinatra.
SRT’s stage is set with a semicircle of arched windows draped and colorfully lighted from behind. In the center of the stage is a large decorated Christmas tree with wrapped presents underneath. To one side of the stage is the three-piece band consisting of the piano player, John C. Brown, who also is the musical director, Jay David on Bass guitar, and Jared Brown on drums. The performers are Leigh Cara Hussman, Katherine McLaughlin, Michael Vodde, and Eric Weaver.
Mixed in with some Christmas songs, both well-known and some less familiar, were some classics like Cole Porter’s “Night and Day” and Johnny Mercer and Harold Arlen’s “Come Rain or Come Shine”.
The four singers handled their numbers well, with Hussman and Vodde slightly above the other two in reaching the emotional and “sizzle” factors some of the numbers required. Vodde was more reminiscent of Sinatra’s cool and talented delivery when singing some of Frank’s songs.
In between numbers, the performers engaged the audience with several tales of Sinatra’s legendary drinking capabilities and some stories of his off-stage romances, especially with Ava Gardner. Some bad pun jokes that mostly fell flat were incorporated into the banter to fill space between songs. I thought it overdone both with the liquor references and the jokes.
In trying to please the audiences of this time of year, the presentation conceived by David Grapes and Todd Olson has attempted to bring the popularity of Frank Sinatra and his now timeless talent back as a celebration of the man’s musical contribution by mixing the feel of the Christmas season and Sinatra together. Although pleasant, the show can’t straddle both Christmas and Sinatra and do justice to both. To celebrate Sinatra’s life in song would not be an easy assignment. Sure, one can sing songs he made popular, but it isn’t the same, unless the singer (s) can deliver a rendition re-creating the heart and soul of the man. As I said, Vodde came close. His mature voice delivered some numbers that brought back memories of “old blue eyes”.
As a performance in total, the singers were capable and on key and engaging with the audience that included a hectic version of the “Twelve Days of Christmas” with audience members recruited for the stage. It was light entertainment as a whole, but don’t expect too much of the soul of Sinatra or the spirit of Christmas.
Rating: 2 stars out of 4
“Christmas My Way” will be performed at the Columbia Fallon House from now through December 20th. Tickets are $22- $28 (Rush Tickets are half of general admission price Thurs & Fri); seniors receive $2 off (except Wednesday); tickets for children 17 & under are $18. Students 18 & older with ID are $20 anytime. Shows are Thursday and Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 8 p.m., Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. Talk back is Thursday, November 12, immediately following the performance. For more information, call 532-3120 or visit www.sierrarep.org.
