Review: HO! HO! HO! THE CHRISTMAS SHOW at Players Circle Theater
runs through December 21.
It is no easy task to take an unrelated group of songs and create enough continuity to turn them into a viable show. Ted Wioncek III and Robert Cacioppo have done a stellar job pulling 38 songs together and creating Ho! Ho! Ho! The Christmas Show at Players Circle Theater.
The cast of four, AJ Mendini, Rachel Querreveld, Kimberly Suskind, and Wioncek plus pianist Ricky Pope, have the versatility to assay everything from Broadway to pop to novelty to sacred with equally impressive results. They make you laugh one minute and touch your heart the next.
The four (and sometimes five) voices blend beautifully. Each cast member also gets some solo moments to shine. Suskind does a Mariah Carey number, only better. Not to be outdone, Querreveld belts (!) out a version of Mr. Grinch unlike any you have heard before.
Mendini sings a pure “Stille Nacht” and a rockin’ “Run, Run Rudolph.” And the irrepressible Wioncek has more fun than should be allowed channeling Elvis.
Pope sings a funny yet somehow poignant song I’d never heard before, “I Don’t Remember Christmas.” Turns out it is from a Broadway revue, Starting Here, Starting Now.
Lily, the four-year old daughter of Suskind and Wioncek, even makes a brief appearance. With such talented parents, she was bound to be a scene stealer. She had the lyrics down pat.
The show is performed without an intermission and is over too soon. Thank heavens for clever encores.
Ho! Ho! Ho! The Christmas Show runs through December 21. Fr tickets, call 239.800.3292.
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