Dec. 13: Maureen McGovern: Home for the Holidays
Maureen McGovern
Home for the Holidays
Saturday, December 13 at 8 pm
2014 Bradstan Cabaret Series
Bethel Center for the Arts
200 Hurd Road
Bethel, New York 12720
http://www.bethelwoodscenter.org/events/detail/maureen-mcgovern-home-for-the-holidays
Maureen McGovern, hailed as “The Stradivarius Voice,” will sing in the holidays as part of the 2014 Bradstan Cabaret Series at the Bethel Center for the Arts.
Here’s what Peter Leavy of Cabaret Scenes had to say about Maureen’s 2012 holiday show at NYC’s 54 Below:
In excellent voice and accompanied by two fine musicians – Jeffrey Harris as pianist, musical director and arranger, and Jay Leonhart on bass – Maureen McGovern covered a varied Christmas song list both spiritually and spiritedly. The good spirits were contagious as McGovern offered such standards as the medley of “Sleigh Ride,” “Winter Wonderland” and “Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!,” to tongue-in-cheek holiday material by Tom Lehrer, to a few delectably warmed-up old chestnuts —yes, we heard Mel Torme/Robert Wells’s “The Christmas Song” (“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire….”), as well as parodies written for radio’s Garrison Keillor.
Not all songs got the full treatment. Some got but a few bars as they made a point in her patter, such as Lehrer’s “The Vatican Rag.” Or his “(I’m Spending) Hanukkah in Santa Monica.” But Patti McKenny’s take-off on “The First Noel” – a sly wink at fashion-conscious “nouvelle cuisine” recast as “The First Nouvelle” – was given full play, much to the audience’s sheer delight. More powerful, and a highlight of the program, was McGovern’s moving rendition of “Mary, Did You Know?.”
….McGovern and her show, with its emphasis on hope, brought a truly welcome gift of cheer ….. Eager to participate, and given the nod, most everyone in the room enthusiastically joined her on Irving Berlin’s iconic “White Christmas.” It was that kind of night.
Category: New York (State), New York (State) Pick of the Week, Pick of the Week, Regional
