Christmas at the Music Hall

The Charleston Christmas Special runs from December 12th through the 21st.
I went to see it on its opening night, and I have to admit, I was a bit impressed.

Brad and Jennifer Moranz produced, directed, choreographed and even starred in the performance.

About 18 singers took turns coming to the stage, singing their own rendition of some of our favorite Christmas carols, and even a handful I had never heard before. In addition, 9 dancers took to the stage, changing costumes nearly every time I turned my head.

The singers were very good - better than expected. They all have a long history of stage performances, not excluding Broadway, as well as a few T.V. moments for some - Star Search, American Idol, All My Children, and Matlock.

There were a few songs I thought were odd choices, and other songs that were good choices but the singers, while all good, were not necessarily the best choice to sing that particular carol.

The Good:
It stuck to the name! "Christmas Special" Key word - CHRISTMAS! They did not sing 30songs about happy holidays, they sang about Merry Christmas and even the birth of Jesus! If you are one who cringes every time someone says 'Merry Christmas' instead of 'Happy Holidays', then don't spend your money. But if you are like me, and enjoy hearing the "C" word, then this will be two hours well spent.
The Bad:
Other than a few song and singer choices that I did not agree with, however I am well aware that this is totally subjective and probably most other people would disagree with me, the only other thing that rubbed me the wrong way came right after the intermission. All of the men took to the stage and announced that they would be singing their unusual version of the '12 Days of Christmas.' With that said, I immediately held my breath and thought to myself, "Oh no, they are not..."
They did.
If you have not seen it yet, scroll down to the December 8th entry of this blog and take a gander at the '12 Days of Christmas' by Straight No Chaser. This is THEIR original arrangement, composed by these men back in 1998. Other than Brad Moranz implying that this was his version, the rest of the show was very well done.

As a professor of Critique, I would have to grade this musical a B+. The singers and dancers were great, set design - great, overall, I would definitely recommend others to go check it out.