Enjoy a Different Holiday Concert This Year: “Naughty & Nice,” featuring the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles Dec 17

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Featuring Special Guest Melissa Manchester


The renowned Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles (GMCLA) spices up the season with two performances of its annual holiday spectacular, “Naughty & Nice,” featuring the 200-voice chorus and special guest Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter, actress and composer Melissa Manchester – hailed as an “icon” (Huffington Post) and a “heart-on-her-sleeve singer-songwriter (Toronto Sun) – Saturday, December 17, 8 pm, and Sunday, December 18, 2010, 3 pm, at the Alex Theatre in Glendale. Artistic Director E. Jason Armstrong conducts a sleighful of beautifully arranged holiday classics, sing-alongs, hand bells, and special holiday fare both humorous and poignant – replete with dazzling choreography. The family-friendly concert opens GMCLA’s 2011-12 season, its 33rd.

In addition, GMCLA returns to an old tradition of holding a “Community Prelude” – a fully staged dress performance (without the guest star and fewer numbers) – on Saturday, December 17, 3 pm, at the Alex Theatre. Community Prelude tickets are $15 general admission for all seats.

Holiday spirit reigns from the first note to last with a range of classical and pop selections. Works include Jason Robert Brown’s Chanukah Suite, Albert Hague’s Mr. Grinch, Irving Berlin’s I've Got My Love To Keep Me Warm, and Joyful, Joyful from the film Sister Act as well as such beloved carols as Santa Claus is Coming to Town and We Wish You a Merry Christmas. Manchester performs her hits Whenever I Call You Friend, Cradle in Bethlehem and A Mother’s Prayer. The program also features the humorous Hanukah in Santa Monica and a tongue-in-cheek take on Handel’s Messiah delivered by GMCLA’s “Malibu Monks.”

Manchester, celebrating four decades of performing, has released 16 CDs, appeared in concert halls around the world and, as an actress, has graced the silver screen and small screen as well as the stage. Among her extensive credits, Manchester wrote the musical I Sent A Letter To My Love, based on the acclaimed Bernice Rubens novel of the same name. Manchester also co-starred with Kelsey Grammer (“Frasier”), in Stephen Sondheim’s musical masterpiece Sweeney Todd at The Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles, and starred in the Chicago premiere of HATS!, a new musical that contains several songs she co-wrote with Sharon Vaughn. She also composed for Disney's The Great Mouse Detective, co-wrote the score for Lady And The Tramp II, and released her sixteenth CD, When I Look Down That Road. Recently, nine of her songs were highlighted in the feature film Dirty Girl. Manchester was nominated for a Grammy in 1978 and 1979 and received the Grammy Award in 1982 for Best Female Vocalist. In 1980 she became the first artist in the history of the Academy Awards to have two nominated movie themes in a given year -- "Through The Eyes Of Love" and "The Promise" -- and made Oscar history by performing both songs during the worldwide telecast.

Saturday, December 17, 8 PM
and
Sunday, December 18, 2011, 3 PM
at Alex Theatre in Glendale

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