Review: Winter Wonderful!! Live It Up Productions' ROCKIN' THE HOLIDAYS at The Desert Breezes Resort Is Holi-Dazzling!

Move Over Radio City! Stand aside all you Las Vegas Production Shows!! Live It Up Productions' ROCKIN THE HOLIDAYS, playing now through December 28 at the JW Marriott Desert Breezes in Palm Desert, is the DEFINITIVE holiday extravaganza - and well worth the drive in from San Diego, Los Angeles and all points between. The multi-talented cast of twelve singers and dancers (many Broadway veterans) deliver one of the finest holiday production shows I have seen in two decades and, believe me, I have seen my share. It is technical perfection as well - truly a visual feast for the eyes.

Director Trini Garza has masterfully crafted a high-energy, 90 minute show that expertly shows off his tremendously talented ensemble and showcases everybody's favorite holiday music --- all scored with a contemporary edge that literally has the audience dancing in the aisles. The real star of the show, for me, is Garza's stunningly gorgeous vocal arrangements - all sung LIVE to a LIVE band - something that seems more difficult to believe than Santa Claus! The ensemble vocals are flawless and evoke all the heartfelt emotions of the season in every impeccable chord. This cast SINGS!!

Standout performances - Amy Pemberton's "Where Are You Christmas" was hauntingly beautiful and the background vocals were deep and rich and warm!! Cameron Neilson's "Mary Did You Know" was one of the finest vocal moments in a show packed with outstanding vocal moments. "Santa Baby", featuring the six women, provided a necessary comedic "breather" in a show that is fairly ballad heavy. The "ballad heavy" comment would normally be a criticism, but at Christmas all is forgiven, and one ballad never seemed to fall short of another. "Oh Holy Night" was thrilling!

The critique!! There was entire section that really seemed pointless and brought the show down a notch - a series of numbers from the sixties with lyrics re-written to bring the "Christmas" in. "Be My Christmas Baby". "Do You Love Me Christmas Angel Girl". You get the idea, With the extremely high caliber of everything else in the show, this set seemed rather "high school " including the staging which came off a bit sophomoric. If you are going to re-write lyrics, they really need to be clever, witty and worthy of the re-write. I found them a bit trite and believe this entire section could be lifted from the show and never missed.

I really LOVED this show!! And you will too! This is one of those "run, don't walk" events because Christmas, and ROCKIN' THE HOLIDAYS, has a limited window of time. It runs Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays until December 28. For tickets or further information visit www.liuproductions.com.

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