SOUND OFF Special Edition: 2011 Giving Gifts Guide

For all those silver and golden Broadway babies, young and green gleeks and plain old all-around entertainment enthusiasts of any age on your holiday shopping lists this year, today we have a SOUND OFF Special Edition 2011 Giving Gifts Guide sure to fulfill the wants, wishes, dreams and desires of your nearest and dearest theatre-loving family and friends with a white and red spotlight on the absolute essential must-haves for this holiday season! Among the festivities: we have GLEE taking on Joni Mitchell and Elvis; two charity albums benefiting arts-related causes and featuring Broadway's best; the most spectacular production of PHANTOM OF THE OPERA you are ever likely to see; candles coming in the six scents from THE SOUND OF MUSIC's beloved "My Favorite Things"; and, of course, Sondheim's massive new tome of the lyrics from the second act of his career - "with Attendant Comments, Amplifications, Dogmas, Harangues, Digressions, Anecdotes and Miscellany," no less - topping the list at #1! Plus, the most important gift of all!

My Favorite Things

What a wonderful season of giving this unquestionably is thanks in no small part to these truly terrific choices - for every imaginable entry on Santa's list, 10 to 105 - that have been culled from the very best releases from the literary, music, theatre and film worlds - and much more!

So, whether you shall be celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice or general year-end merriment, there is also sure to be something on this year's list for you to treat yourself to, too - or three! Come on, you and I both know you most certainly deserve it!

LOOK, I MADE A HAT by Stephen Sondheim

Last year's positively peerless complete collection of lyrics, commentary and criticism from the first half of Stephen Sondheim's career, FINISHING THE HAT, would have surely been enough to satiate even the most die-hard Broadway baby on the planet's desire for Sondheim's unflinching insight into his own work, but, with this year's sequel - the similarly-thematically-titled SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE tip-of-the-hat, LOOK, I MADE A HAT; which covers 1981 leading up to the present day - is even more fabulously fascinating and just as necessary on the shelf of any theatre fan worth their weight in silver and gold sequins. If you have not seen my InDepth InterView with Sondheim from last year centering on the first book, you may read it here. Additionally, click here for my even more expansive conversation with Sondheim from last month in which we discuss the finer points of FINISHING THE HAT, as well as all about LOOK, I MADE A HAT and much, much more! Frankly (to use a MERRILY pun), a book this important only comes along once in a theatre lover's life, and, the fact that we now have two volumes of them - totaling nearly 1000 pages; all from the pen of the modern-day master of the musical theatre - is something to sing about. Out loud. Yes, we know things now - even more than before.

GLEE: THE MUSIC: THE CHRISTMAS ALBUM VOLUME 2

I know, I know - how could the second volume of GLEE's Christmas albums possibly follow Stephen Sondheim's second book? Well, give the album a spin and you may see why - it is perfect. Actually, no - combined with last year's Christmas Volume 1, both, together form the ideal Christmas play-list with a modern twist for every gleek on your list - and maybe even for some GLEE neophytes, to (polished black) boot! Each and every one of the tracks on this year's Christmas: Volume 2 is a winner and it's clear to hear why the director of this year's Christmas episode - Matt Morrison - along with GLEE creator Ryan Murphy - managed to make 10 musical sequences from them. Every track on this collection is a highlight, but the two original songs - "Extraordinary Merry Christmas" for Lea Michele and Darren Criss and another duet that did not make the actual show - are both warm, fuzzy, cute and catchy new holiday mini-classics and both Lea Michele's take on Joni Mitchell's "River" and Damian McGinty's iteration of the Elvis classic "Blue Christmas" are on par with the vaunted originals. That good. Plus, Lea Michele and the cast's take on Wham!'s "Last Christmas" from Volume 1 is already a well-deserved must-play holiday track - as it should be. If you can have only one, make it Volume 2 - otherwise, get both.

CAROLS FOR A CURE: HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Besides the fact that simply buying the album benefits one of the most important charities on Broadway - BC/EFA; or, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS - you also receive the bonus of owning - or, even better yet, giving - one of the finest collections of performances based on a theme you are ever likely to hear. Ever. Indeed, every single song is a Santa-themed stunner and the cast list alone is astounding - everyone from RENT and MEMPHIS lead Adam Pascal to Liza with a Z - and the inclusion of Pascal's "New York State Of Mind" is an inspired, enthralling addition to the bar-none best of the best Broadway-themed collection of holiday songs you are ever likely to hear. "Baby, It's Cold Outside" with Liza and Alan Cumming to the Callaway sisters' medley to Pascal's aforementioned highlight all the way through to Audra McDonald's vocalizing over Jason Robert Brown's spare reworking of "White Christmas" at the album's inevitable conclusion - it is all as pristine as blindingly white freshly fallen snow under a spotlight. Or a follow spot.

 

NEW YORK CITY CHRISTMAS: A BENEFIT ALBUM FOR ASTEP

With a formidable bevy of Broadway heavyweights on display - Raul Esparza, Sierra Boggess, Tyler Maynard, Orfeh and Constantine Maroulis included - the cast list and smart song choices on this memorable live album alone makes it a must-listen, yet it is the arrangements by the extremely gifted Lynne Shankel that really make this album rise to the top of the ranks - the highest bough, as it were - and make it a refreshingly unique and undoubtedly essential album in any Christmas-themed collection for the theatre fan on Santa's list. A few tracks top the rest just by their sheer genius of musical arrangement and lightning-in-a-bottle match with interpreter - Boggess and Linsday Mendez on a medley of "Still Still Still" and "The First Noel; Maroulis and Orfeh doing a spine-tingling mash-up of "I'll Be Home For Christmas" and "Christmas In America" - and, the musical highlight of today's entire countdown can be found right here in the form of Raul Esparza's bilingual "O Holy Night". That track is the aural embodiment of the magic of Christmas all wrapped up with a big, shiny bow in a single sound byte - destined to delight any and all who have the pleasure to hear it. The same could likely be said for the entire awesome album experience itself. Cool yule.

PHANTOM OF THE OPERA AT THE ROYAL Albert Hall Blu-ray

To say that THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA's decadent 25th anniversary performance - beamed to movie theaters around the globe courtesy of Fathom Entertainment - was the musical theatre event of the year is doing a major disservice to just how fantastic - and phan-tastic - this engrossing entertainment event truly was. Now on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK and soon to be released early next year in the US, this is the must-own Blu-ray on the list for 2011. Sierra Boggess, Ramin Karimloo and Hadley Fraser bring such gravitas, grace and intelligence to their roles as to make it Shakespeare-level drama. The only thing better than their acting is the angelic voices amply evidenced by each, especially Boggess. Even for non-phans, this performance capture is so enlivening and rich as to make you applaud with the Albert Hall audience and catch your breath along with them following "The Music Of The Night" and "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again". PHANTOM done better - and bigger - than ever. Note: The UK edition Blu-ray is non-region-coded so it will play in most Blu-ray players; the DVD that is included is Region 2.

Yankee Candle's MY FAVORITE THINGS GIFT SET

Much like adapting the Rodgers & Hammerstein stage musical hit THE SOUND OF MUSIC to the big screen, as Robert Wise so successfully did; or, better yet, re-interpreting one of the score's most beloved songs and including it on a Christmas album, as Barbra Streisand did - Yankee Candle is now offering their six special-edition holiday scents inspired by the classic film and musical loved the world over. Contained in Yankee Candle's "My Favorite Things" gift set are six Hammerstein lyric selections from the classic song made into indelible scents - "Raindrops On Roses", "Bright Copper Kettles", "Warm Woollen Mittens", "Blue Satin Sashes", "Moon On Their Wings" and, of course, "Crisp Apple Strudel". Smells like a winner!

 

Tickets To A Show From BroadwayWorld's Ticket Central

Without a doubt, the biggest, best and brightest Broadway-based holiday gift of them all is a ticket to a Broadway show. The ultimate source for tickets to any show on Broadway, Off-Broadway or anywhere around the world is undoubtedly right here at BroadwayWorld's Ticket Central. Whether your potential giftee's idea of great entertainment is FOLLIES, SPIDER-MAN, ANYTHING GOES or something in between, BroadwayWorld's Ticket Central offers it all in the most clear, concise and comprehensive manner of any ticketing site on the internet. So, above all else, pick up a ticket for the most special of Santa's helpers on your gift list - and maybe grab a ticket for Santa or Mrs. Claus, too!

Visit BroadwayWorld's Ticket Central here.

So, now, with your brightly-colored packages and stockings stuffed with care, treat yourself to one or all of these superb selections and enjoy your time spent around the tree in comfort and style - as only BroadwayWorld can recommend you do! Happy Holidays to you and yours and here's to a terrific 2012!