Review: A CHRISTMAS MEMORY/WINTER SONG is a Warm, Wonderful Welcome to Winter

What's your favorite holiday memory? A large gathering of family? That time you spent Christmas alone in a foreign country? Whatever it is, take it with you to Portland Center Stage and share it with your fellow revelers at A CHRISTMAS MEMORY/WINTER SONG. This show is like comfort food -- warm, nourishing, and just exactly what you want on a cold winter's night.

The performance has two parts. First, Leif Norby presents Truman Capote's "A Christmas Memory," a tender story recounting a Christmas past, when the narrator was a boy of seven and his best friend was a fruitcake-making elderly cousin. The story is both joyful and sad, and Norby is an accomplished heartstring-tugger. Make sure you have a tissue easily accessible.

The second part is a collection of music performed by Norby and talented singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Merideth Kaye Clark, accompanied by Mont Chris Hubbard. They aren't Christmas carols, but rather songs -- some familiar, some original -- about winter and the feelings it evokes. Between the songs, Norby and Clark share Christmas stories, many gathered from the audience before the show.

I keep coming back to the word warm because it's the best descriptor of both the show itself and the feeling I had while watching it. The show captures the complex feelings surrounding the holidays and is an antidote to the hectic activity it's so easy to get caught up in during the season. I recommend it very highly.

A CHRISTMAS MEMORY/WINTER SONG runs through December 31. More info and tickets here.