31 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!
Buy Holiday Melody on Carols For A Cure Vol. 18 here (Broadway Cares store)
Read more about the work of Broadway Cares here (Broadway Cares website)
It is now exactly one month until Christmas Eve. A full month to enjoy jubilant, soul-lifting Christmas songs from your favourite artists - as well as discover new music by your future musical obsessions. For someone who loves theatre as much as I do, I'm slightly astonished that I have only just discovered the Broadway Cares "Carols For A Cure" project (blame it on my living in England, although is that really any excuse?!) For the past 18 years, the casts of shows on the Great White Way that year record their own seasonal songs to raise awareness and money for AIDS education, research and support. I'm currently re-mortgaging my house to get my hands on the 17 past editions of these festive compilations, but in the meantime a great introduction to volume 18 is the cast of Chicago (featuring Angel Reda) singing an effusive, ebullient song, titled Holiday Melody. I don't know if this is an original song or something unearthed from the vaults, but it's new to me and I am reveling in it's gleeful cheer and joyous vibe. Set to an instrumental that is full of festive razzle dazzle (including deliriously giddy horn, shimmering jingle bells and tra-la-las backing vocals for the gods), Angela gives a charming lead vocal that accentuates all the happiness the season can bring. Infusing the song with a Spector style vibe, the lyrics are evocative enough to conjure up images of every Christmas memory and tradition you can imagine. It is all so uplifting that it leaves the listener with an endorphin rush so epic that it will power you straight through to new year. And it feels like a big community singalong - not only because the cast intertwine so well with the band, but also because it is an invitation to the listener to get their spotlight, family & friends and join in (because lords knows, I simply cannot do it alone). It is a fitting end to the 20th anniversary year of the show on Broadway and an essential new addition to your holiday soundtrack - it makes you feel merry and bright in the most spine tingling way. Now that's class.
**Ghosts of Christmas past:**
No comments:
Post a Comment