Published: Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Sno-King sings a ringing show
A not entirely worn-out sentiment in one of the lyrics hit home when Sno-King Chorale staged their “Holiday Magic Northwest Celebration” last weekend at Edmonds Center for the Arts. The sentiment was: “Christmas is for children of all ages.” It is still true. Monks on Mt. Athos contemplate. We party.
What does our way look like? What does it sound like?
Well, the way Sno-King put songs to Christmas, holiday hoopla excites, laughter rings, romance glows and the Christ story resonates. In effect, if the mind set seems childlike, that is because it comes wrapped in clichés which, when unwrapped, invariably surprise and renew.
Nothing most of us haven’t heard a thousand times before linked the show-opening “Angelic Christmas Fanfare,” the “Christmas On Broadway Medley” that followed and the “Christmas Time is Here Medley.”
Everyone knows the likes of “Silent Night,” Burl Ives’ “Holly Jolly Christmas,” “Silver Bells” and the dear “Rudolph.”
Stockings hung by the chimney with care, lights on a Christmas tree, toys for tots with bright red ribbons, Santa’s paunch, grownups and kids at play, Sno-King packaged, staged and engaged with Christmas spirit in ways familiar to all.
Entertaining as he was, even Norwegian-Swede material of local guest accordionist and standup comic, Stan Boreson, broke no new ground. Yet, the guy clicked; corny, maybe, funny, definitely.
The piling up of musical phrases for profoundly rousing effect in “Christmas Fanfare: For He Is Born” stood out as the one single exception to nothing new.
Here is an original composition for choir by by Chorale conductor, Frank DeMiero that grabbed, held and uplifted. Faith is one tough emotion to put across. DeMiero and his crew scored big time.
This was a Christmas show with Snohomish-King county personality; old hat on the outside, old-fashioned heart on the inside. Not a lot was new, but what was tried was true. Christmas American style is “for children of all ages.”
Reactions? Comments? E-mail Dale Burrows at entfeatures@heraldnet.com or grayghost7@comcast.net.
What does our way look like? What does it sound like?
Well, the way Sno-King put songs to Christmas, holiday hoopla excites, laughter rings, romance glows and the Christ story resonates. In effect, if the mind set seems childlike, that is because it comes wrapped in clichés which, when unwrapped, invariably surprise and renew.
Nothing most of us haven’t heard a thousand times before linked the show-opening “Angelic Christmas Fanfare,” the “Christmas On Broadway Medley” that followed and the “Christmas Time is Here Medley.”
Everyone knows the likes of “Silent Night,” Burl Ives’ “Holly Jolly Christmas,” “Silver Bells” and the dear “Rudolph.”
Stockings hung by the chimney with care, lights on a Christmas tree, toys for tots with bright red ribbons, Santa’s paunch, grownups and kids at play, Sno-King packaged, staged and engaged with Christmas spirit in ways familiar to all.
Entertaining as he was, even Norwegian-Swede material of local guest accordionist and standup comic, Stan Boreson, broke no new ground. Yet, the guy clicked; corny, maybe, funny, definitely.
The piling up of musical phrases for profoundly rousing effect in “Christmas Fanfare: For He Is Born” stood out as the one single exception to nothing new.
Here is an original composition for choir by by Chorale conductor, Frank DeMiero that grabbed, held and uplifted. Faith is one tough emotion to put across. DeMiero and his crew scored big time.
This was a Christmas show with Snohomish-King county personality; old hat on the outside, old-fashioned heart on the inside. Not a lot was new, but what was tried was true. Christmas American style is “for children of all ages.”
Reactions? Comments? E-mail Dale Burrows at entfeatures@heraldnet.com or grayghost7@comcast.net.