Los Angeles Music Preview: COOL YULE (Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles)

Post image for Los Angeles Music Preview: COOL YULE (Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles)

by Tony Frankel on December 13, 2016

in Theater-Los Angeles

MAKE THE YULETIDE GAY

Attending GMCLA’s Holiday Spectaculars is more like a pilgrimage for me, and is a no-brainer when choosing my wintertime concerts. This year’s musical extravaganza, Holiday Spectacular: Cool Yule, plays at Glendale’s gorgeous Alex Theatre for four performances beginning this Thursday, Dec. 15, 2016, and running through Sunday. And while there is no better way to celebrate the season than 250 men warming up your yule log, this year’s special guest Cheyenne Jackson will ensure that it doesn’t go out.

GMCLA Holiday Spectacular

The combination of vocal prowess with a heartfelt celebration of community makes the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles simply incomparable. One moment they make the yuletide gay with a supremely silly twist on an all-too-familiar holiday favorite (replete with colorful costumes, theatrical performances, and cute choreography); the next they lovingly rip your heart out of your chest with a soul-stirring rendition of a nonsecular hymn. First-timers will be dumbstruck by the sterling, world-class musicality of the chorus.

e9e2dd71-7c2d-4d9f-b7b8-f071a1beb99b

Handsome, self-effacing, loquacious, and convivially humble, singer / songwriter / actor Cheyenne Jackson radiates charisma–especially when on stage, where every time I have seen him he is dazzling. The consummate performer and committed social activist has his career dance card filled, bopping between Broadway (Xanadu, Finian’s Rainbow), TV (American Horror Story), and concerts (Music of the Mad Men Era). The latter tour, which called for elegance and ravishing 1950s and ’60s vocals, suited Jackson so well that he recorded a CD (Renaissance). The man is extremely comfortable in his body, and he has it all: looks, personality, talent, a flexible voice–an unstoppable recipe for stardom.

joshua-skidmore-fred-jason-arens-jonathan-gail-and-billy-rugh-gmcla-xmas-2015

This year, GMCLA promises a wide assortment of holiday hits and seasonal surprises; you know, sleigh rides, lumberjacks, fruitcakes, hipster reindeer, and even Daddy…I mean…Father Christmas. Come for the lumberjacks, stay for the fruitcakes! Yule be glad you did.

a13c8787-538b-4947-8557-18d712db3169

photos of previous concerts courtesy of GMCLA

Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles
Holiday Spectacular: Cool Yule
Thursday, December 15, 2016, at 8
Saturday, December 17 at 2 & 8
Sunday, December 18 at 2
Alex Theatre, 216 North Brand Boulevard in Glendale
for tickets, call 800.MEN.SING or visit Seat Advisor
for more info, visit GMCLA

Leave a Comment