Real Christmas

Coming soon, to a city near you. Maybe. It’s the famed Radio City Christmas Spectacular.

Madison Square Garden Entertainment’s plan to launch a touring arena version of its Radio City Christmas Spectacular is the latest move in an increasingly aggressive strategy that will see the company launch other tours in the next few years.

The Spectacular tour marks the most ambitious national project for MSGE, a division of Cablevision that owns and operates New York’s Madison Square Garden, the WaMu Theatre at MSG, the Beacon Theatre and Radio City Music Hall — and which recently completed a transaction to acquire the Chicago Theatre.

The Spectacular production will play 18 cities across the Midwest and South, beginning November 8-9 at the Brown County Arena in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The plan is to hit more than 60 markets in the next three years and then repeat the cycle. Marciano projects that between 650,000 and 700,000 tickets will be sold the first year.

The touring Spectacular will boast all the elements of the much-heralded 75th edition of the Christmas Spectacular at Radio City in 2007, when MSGE simultaneously launched “Wintuk.” In a 10-week span, the two shows were attended by more than 2.4 million people and grossed more than $150 million.

The Spectacular has enjoyed theater residencies in some 30 markets since 1994 (including as many as nine in 2008), the upcoming tour is unique in that it is a multimillion-dollar production conceived specifically to travel to venues in the 7,000-12,000 capacity range.

“If we’re successful in the U.S., we’ll start to think about it in the context of international opportunities,” Marciano says.

The arena tour has been in the works for two years, he says, with the 75th production serving as a springboard for the idea to take the Spectacular on the road. “The limitations of most theaters didn’t allow for presenting the Christmas Spectacular on a scale that we do at Radio City,” he says. “We turned to the arenas, which allowed us to provide a family show the size of which has never been seen outside of Radio City Music Hall.”

The production is bigger than many major rock tours, involving 30 trucks and 16 buses, a massive LED screen, with a cast of 56, including the famous Rockettes.

The top ticket price will be $65-$75, with the average in the low $50s, according to Marciano. That ticket price is higher than most family shows, but well below Broadway show tickets, Marciano notes.

Share This

“A Christmas Story,” the beloved 1983 movie comedy about holiday hopes in a Midwest American setting in the mid-20th century, is being developed into a traditional stage musical by producers Gerald Goehring and Douglas C. Evans.

Goehring and Evans were behind Off-Broadway’s recent Frankenstein, the pop-rock musical, which will start its licensing life in the coming year, and is being developed for a tour in 2009. They told Playbill.com that they’ve been in discussions with theatres to get a production of their musical, A Christmas Story, on its feet as early as the holiday season of 2008.

The project’s collaborators — a lyricist, a librettist and a composer — will be announced shortly. The producers said the script and score can be delivered in five months, in time for rehearsals.

Goehring and Evans exclusively optioned the musical rights — for a first-class, large-cast musical — from the Dramatic Publishing Company, Inc.

A Christmas Story already exists as a non-musical stage show that has been popular in regional markets.

The musical will be based upon the motion picture, “A Christmas Story,” which was produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Turner Entertainment Co. and is currently distributed by Warner Bros. The movie was written by Jean Shepherd, Leigh Brown and (director) Bob Clark, and was based on “In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash,” a novel by late humorist Shepherd (1921-99), who narrated the movie.

The producers characterize the musical project this way: “A Christmas Story is a whimsical, slightly-twisted and beloved tribute to an all-American, nostalgic view of Christmastime. Set in Indiana during the 1940s, a young Ralphie dreams of his ideal gift for Christmas and is waging an all-out campaign to convince his reluctant parents. Ralphie mounts a full-scale, hint-dropping, Santa-begging campaign. He also endures all kids of childhood calamities from his brother’s snowsuit paralysis to the yellow-eyed Scotty Farkus affair to the dreaded tongue-on-a-frozen-flagpole stunt. A triple-dog-dare Christmas classic for the American stage.”

Share This

Of all the films, shows, concerts people want to see put on DVD, I somehow doubt “Captain and Tennille: The Christmas Show” ranks high on the wishlist. So why are several Captain and Tennille DVDs being released? Your guess is as good as mine.

The 1976 50 minute Christmas Show consists of performances by the Pointer Sisters, Tennille’s 3 sisters, and Captain and Tennille (obviously), with a few sketches featuring Don Knotts (how could you Don?) and “Happy Days” star Tom Bosley. The songs featured in the program are: “Jingle Bells,” “Little Saint Nick,” “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/White Christmas/March Of The Wooden Soldiers,” “I’m Saved/Amen,” “Wedding Song,” “Count Basie Medley,” “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,” “How Can I Be Sure?,” “O Holy Night,” and “We Never Really Say Goodbye.”

The Captain and Tennille special is, to put it simply, a disaster. In the opening number, Toni Tennille comes out in a hideous dress and sings “Jingle Bells” with a Spanish accent. Keep in mind Toni Tennille is a white southern woman. Not only is using the accent pointless, but I’d wager it’s a bit offensive too. From there on out the special only gets worse. The 4 Tennille sisters murder the classic Beach Boys version of “Little Saint Nick,” Toni Tennille sings a jazzed up/operatic version of “O Holy Night,” Don Knotts appears in several unfunny sketches and looks depressed, and Daryl Dragon (AKA The Captain) acts like a robot as he attempts to act and read cue cards. Throughout the whole special I kept wishing I’d hear a gong to stop the show followed by Chuck Barris walking out on stage escorting Captain and Tennille off stage. Speaking of which, “The Gong Show” is a TV classic that really needs to be put out on DVD, unlike this “special.”

Overall, Captain and Tennille should refrain from playing Christmas songs. I implore everyone to continue listening to the pros instead (like Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, The Beach Boys, etc).

(Excerpt from DVDTalk.com - Click here to read the full review)

Share This

Now even the cast-offs from American Idol are making Christmas music— in May!

Antonella Barba on her own MySpace has sought to completely bury her bad girl image, adding the completely off season “Christmas Song” to her play list.  People out and about have been offering up positive comparisons to Amanda, but personally it sounds like Antonella is at least singing without digital pitch correction as her guide, even though she needs it.  Still, when you’re resorting to Christmas songs at this stage of your career, it’s not exactly a sign that things are going well.

So what’s the difference between Antonella Barba warbling The Christmas Song and Twisted Sister belting out Oh Come All Ye Faithful?

I’ll tell you what the difference is: Christmas spirit.

In the world of music, it is what made Herb Alpert’s Christmas album a classic. It is what makes Gary Hoey a cult favorite year after year. It is what makes Michael Caine performing with the Muppets plausible.

At this point in her career, Antonella Barba has two options: sign on as the new host of Girls Gone Wild or sell Christmas music in the dog days of late spring.

Christmas music deserves better than that. It is, after all, mostly sacred stuff. (And the rest is designed for kids). They should license people before they start crooning about roasting chestnuts. It is serious business.

There ought to be a law.    

Share This