Following the release of his debut solo album, Broadway Brick By Brick, Michael Longoria (Jersey Boys, The View UpStairs) sings us home for the holidays with a collection of his Christmas favorites. Merry Christmas Darling
is a romantic holiday album with a throwback ‘60s vibe that will make you want to hang up your stocking, snuggle up by the fireplace, and get into the Christmas spirit. Longoria’s winter wonderland love-note includes beloved classics like “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”, “Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)”, “All I Want For Christmas Is You”, and features the debut of an original Christmas song co-written by Michael and Rona Siddiqui called “Merry Me This Christmas”. Released by Broadway Records, Merry Christmas Darling features music arrangements by Rona Siddiqui and is produced by Grammy nominee Michael Croiter.Scroll on as Michael shares with BroadwayBox his five favorite Christmas diva performances.
"The Christmas Diva" Mariah Carey—“All I Want For Christmas Is You"
Vintage Mariah in this classic romantic video of "All I Want For Christmas Is You, all about a girl running around in the snow in a red jumpsuit. Not gonna lie, I was looking for one of these to wear for my Christmas concert, but they ran out of my size on Amazon. I like the vintage home movie feel and simplicity of the video. She even has a Santa cameo which is super cute. I’m always tempted to sit on Santa’s lap when I’ve seen him at holiday parties. Is there an age limit on that?
"The Fearless Diva" Kelly Clarkson—"Underneath The Tree"
Kelly Clarkson came out with this cute new song on her Christmas album Wrapped In Red a few years ago. I love this song because Kelly belts out so fearlessly (as always). Kelly has the kind of voice that she can’t phone in so every time you hear her sing it’s live and full of heart.
"The ‘60s Divas" Darlene Love & Ronnie Spector—"Sleigh Ride"
Sharing Christmas cheer during the holidays can be fun...but sharing a SOLO on a Christmas classic can be tough. Check out ‘60s divas Ronnie Spector and Darlene Love “share” this version of “Sleigh Ride”. They handle it well, but I like to imagine what they are thinking during this performance.
"The Country Diva" Dolly Parton—“Hard Candy Christmas"
Dolly Parton gives us another side of Christmas... what it’s like to be alone and down on your luck during the holidays. Even though it’s more of a melancholy song, I like the inner message she sings about being “fine and dandy” and not to “let sorrow bring me way down”. It’s a good reminder that Christmas isn’t the same experience for everyone so to be kind because you never know who might need it.
"The Diva With No Background Singers" Patti Labelle—"This Christmas"
Everything goes wrong for Patti at this performance. She hears her name before the announcement and comes out before her music starts. Then the cue cards that have her lyrics to the song are missing. “Where my background singers?” she says into the mic. Someone clearly never cued them so they show up half way through the song. “And I don't know the words!”, she confesses. Patti has a speaking moment after the song ends where she acknowledges how bad the performance went, "No more singing for me honey I already BLEW". A great reminder that even the best performers have shows where everything goes wrong! My Broadway debut in Hairspray went kinda like this. I was trained to go on for “Sketch” and “IQ” for my first week on Broadway as the swing, but the actor playing “Duane” unexpectedly called out at "a half hour to places" on my first night on Broadway. Even though I had only been taught the choreography for two other parts, the stage manager had no choice but to throw me on in a part I had never rehearsed. Lucky for me, the original cast pushed and pulled me around the stage to avoid oncoming set pieces. Where were MY background singers?!?
Check out Michael Longoria's Christmas Album "Merry Christmas Darling" available now on iTunes, Amazon, Spotify and at BroadwayRecords.com.
