Marieann Meringolo’s 15th annual holiday concert aims to raise spirits by sheer force of determination. The vocalist doesn’t so much put her heart in these songs as inhabit the beating pulse of optimism. With longtime musical director Doyle Newmyer and as directed by Will Nunziata, Meringolo sings holiday classics and a few seasonal offshoots with innate rallying cry. “Despite these times we’re going through, I still believe there’s magic and hope in the air.”
The cheerful “Hark the Herald Angels” (Felix Mendelssohn/E. Pola) and “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” (Edward Pola/George Wyle) open festivities with elongated, skating notes. In contrast, Joni Mitchell’s “River” It’s coming on Christmas/They’re cutting down trees/They’re putting up reindeer/And singing songs of joy and peace/Oh, I wish I had a river/I could skate away on…echoes sentiments of those who face ghosts of regret this time of year. Meringolo is musing, subdued, believably rueful. Keyboard is stroked.
Larry Kerchmer’s “Winter in Manhattan” arrives palpably warm accompanied by glistening piano touches. Meringolo conjures images. A classic “Silver Bells” (Jay Livingston/Ray Evens) is longlined rather than sprightly. Tonight’s phrasing evidences a slight, purposeful lag (not technical) as if unwilling to let go of sentiment. “This is my favorite time of year.”
Showing us her childhood LP of “The Little Drummer Boy,” Meringolo performs “Do You Hear What I Hear?” (Noel Regney/Gloria Shayne). The rendition earnestly pines. Idiosyncratic accompaniment is tinted Middle Eastern, where the manger lay. A medley ending in the wrenching “Mary, Did You Know?” (Buddy Green/Frank Lowry) is particularly strong both in terms of the performer’s gravitas and showcasing vocal skill: Did you know that your baby boy is heaven’s perfect lamb?/That sleeping child you’re holding is the great I am…
The Italian Catholic Meringolo house, we’re told, celebrated Christmas twice – opening gifts at home on Christmas Eve day, then going to join the rest of the family. “I remember telling the kids in my neighborhood that Santa came to my house before any other – and I had the Polaroids!” “Mistletoe and You” (David Bach/David Schreiber) and “Christmastime (It’s Time to Fall in Love” (Kurt Weiting/William Chidsey) are contemporary additions to a universal cannon.
Caveats: “My Favorite Things” (Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein II) has too much musically going on to be affecting. Jazz meets songbook with awkward density. (This is not the case with jazz coloring on “Winter Wonderland” by Felix Bernard/Richard B. Smith, during which Newmyer’s fingers are terpsichorean.) Frank Loesser’s “Baby It’s Cold Outside” exchanges sweet temptation for distracting theatricality. Meringolo continues to pepper her acts with nasal/Brooklyn/Barbra Streisand interjections which, though she parrots very well, feel tired.
Jewish/Hanukkah songs include Alan Chapman’s “It’s Christmas and We’re Jewish” which jauntily proposes Christmas is about peace and therefore open to all and Karen Bennedetto’s sincere, spiritual “A Chanakua Prayer” which is worthy of a Temple.
This evening ends with “I Am Blessed” (Marsha Malamet/ Marc Mueller). “It’s not a Christmas song, but one that I feel very close to. Life goes on no matter what. “Might as well tap into something good.” And I am blessed/Every time i look into my baby’s eyes/I think of all the friends who’ve touched my life/I realize/In a world where some have more and some have less/I have love, and i am blessed…Eminently apt.
A show presented with as much passion as prowess.
The show is available online. For more information go to her website.
All quotes are Marieann Meringolo
Photo courtesy of the artist
