BWW Reviews: ELLINGTON AT CHRISTMAS Brings Holiday Charm to Harlem's Apollo Theater

Each year, New York City's artistic community heralds the arrival of "the holidays" in several well-known ways. The Philharmonic alternates between Handel's Messiah and various Irving Berlin classics; the New York City Ballet restages Balanchine's Nutcracker; and Radio City Music Hall marshals an army of precisely trained toy soldiers and sexy Santas for their annual Christmas Spectacular.

At the Apollo Theater in Harlem, the arrival of the holiday season is marked by "Holidays at the Apollo," which this year includes "Ellington at Christmas," a two-act offering of Ellington's "Nutcracker Suite" and portions of his "Sacred Music Concerts." We're re-gifted these Ellington holiday classics in an enjoyable, if not completely flawless performance by Ellington expert David Berger and his Jazz Orchestra, featuring students from the Dance Theater of Harlem School and the Arts High School Advanced Choir of Newark, as well as solos by baritone Norm Lewis, sopranos Lizz Wright and Priscilla Baskerville, and tap virtuoso Jason Samuels Smith.

Like any performance at the Apollo, part of the charm of Ellington at Christmas comes well before the curtain rises, as the staff welcomes both naughty and nice with a warm professionalism that seems unfortunately noteworthy these days. The diverse audience this theater attracts, combined with a well-stocked bar, makes eavesdropping on pre-show conversation particularly entertaining. ("They serve alcoholic drinks here?!") When the curtain rises, a large red and black photograph of the Duke himself presides over the ceremonies, peering out, top hat characteristically askew, towards those still dedicated to his monumental musical legacy.

The joy of the Nutcracker Suite -- Ellington's 1960 jazz re-imagination of Tchaikovsky's classic that constitutes the first half of "Ellington at Christmas" -- is in pursuing the familiar melodies as they are reassembled in a jazz context, tossed like a musical hot potato from instrument to instrument. What begins in a tenor sax gets intercepted by the bass, only to be handed off in jazzy distortions to a trumpet and his plunger mute. David Berger's orchestra plays these entertaining pieces, guided by the sway of Berger's head, hands, and hips, enjoyably, but without remarkable gusto. Perhaps from too many of the bar's "alcoholic drinks" (or perhaps too few?), or perhaps simply from super-saturation with Ellington's music, Berger's group felt slightly muted, never quite reaching the dramatic fortissimos or pin-drop pianissimos that keep an audience alive in their comfy seats.

If the music itself felt a little flat, the most elevated moments of the Nutcracker Suite came during the "Peanut Brittle Brigade" and the "Dance of the Floreadores," both of which featured ballet vignettes by students from the Dance Theater of Harlem School. In overlapping solo and small-group passages, these middle and high school aged students reminded the audience why performances by young dancers are always so engaging.

Their simple choreography (by Robert Garland) smartly gave each dancer a moment in the spotlight, allowing the audience to not only enjoy the dramatic jumps or nimble pointe-work of the more experienced, but also the energetic (if slightly less complex) work of its junior ranks. To be sure, the dancers showed signs of their relative immaturity. Their long (and probably still-growing) limbs extended expressively but sometimes awkwardly or incompletely. Otherwise bright, engaging smiles turned to furrowed, focused frowns before each difficult jump or phrase. And yet, while unmistakably amateur, their presence -- first in orange and gold and second in bright red velvet, wielding curved boughs of multi-colored flowers -- brought an energy to the theater that Berger's professional orchestra delivered less consistently. Despite a few standout solos from some of the musicians -- most notably Mark Hynes' dynamic confidence on the tenor saxophone -- the audience reserved its loudest applause during the Nutcracker Suite for these young dancers.

Like the Nutcracker Suite, the Sacred Music Concerts (which premiered in 1965 during the opening of San Francisco's Grace Cathedral) is Ellington's jazzy recreation of a classic, but this time his source material is Christian liturgy. This rendition began with Norm Lewis, appearing in a sheeny black suit and patent leather shoes, dabs of grey subtly framing his handsome smile, singing "In the Beginning" in a powerful and buttery baritone. The spoken phrases of this number -- a long list of everything missing in the pre-genesis universe -- warned against the stress and consumerism that preoccupies most during the holidays. ("No poverty, no Cadillacs...no Aspirin, no headaches.") While Lewis didn't deliver these spoken passages as thoughtfully as the sung phrases, his superb vocal work in the latter made it easier to forget some stiffness during the former.

In the pieces that followed, jazz vocalist Lizz Wright (appearing in shimmering royal blue) demonstrated an enchantingly rich vocal timbre, although clearer enunciation would have marginally improved her performance. Priscilla Baskerville, wrapped in purple ruching, closed the show flawlessly. The effortless control and crystalline beauty of her wordless glissandos in the climax of "Almighty God" were a reminder of how stunning live singing can be when expertly done. The Arts High School Advanced Choir of Newark, raised in rows of black jackets, white shirts, and (likely clip-on) bowties behind the orchestra, gave solid yet underutilized choral accompaniment during several pieces of the second act.

Channeling the late Bunny Briggs' performance at the 1965 premiere of the Sacred Music Concerts, tap dancer Jason Samuels Smith set loose an unstoppable stream of taps, shuffles, stomps, and scrapes in "David Danced Before the Lord with All His Might," using every conceivable percussive surface of his white shoes. Smith is one of those deviously skilled performers (found in all creative fields) whose talent is so ingeniously developed that it looks easy. Although the rhythm streaming from his feet would have been easier to enjoy with softer accompaniment (or stronger floor mics), Dr. Briggs (himself described by Ellington as "superleviathanic") would have been pleased.

Despite any of its admittedly minor flaws, Ellington at Christmas delighted its audience and achieved what it set out to do: produce a cherished kind of New York holiday charm, different than what is found at Lincoln or Rockefeller Centers or browsing the flashy storefronts on Fifth Avenue. This kind of charm can only come from something like Ellington at Christmas, a showing of an icon's work at his iconic artistic home. Is Christmas not a time of homecoming? What is a holiday but a chance to maintain and celebrate a heritage worth coming back to year after year? Bursting out of the theater after Ellington at Christmas, inspired youngsters were seen dancing down 125th street, breathlessly caroling between pirouettes. The holidays have arrived.

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