The 10 Best New Broadway Holiday Albums of 2021!
Get ready to Fa-La-La-along with Kristin Chenoweth, Darren Criss, and more!
By: Team BWW Dec. 04, 2021
Find out the best new Broadway holiday albums for 2021 because tis the season for holiday tunes! From festive favorites to brand-new bops, Broadway isn't disappointing this year, with a huge variety of new holiday albums from your favorite artists to put under the tree. Check out a full list of 2021 holiday albums from Broadway best and brightest!
Kristin Chenoweth
HAPPINESS Is...Christmas!
Broadway favorite Kristin Chenoweth is back this holiday season with her second Christmas album. The 12-track album features classics, as well as a reworked song from the musical You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, for which Chenoweth won a Tony Award in 1999. The song is mashed up with Christmas Time Is Here, which was featured in the film A Charlie Brown Christmas.
Darren Criss
A Very Darren Crissmas
A Very Darren Crissmas features a wildly eclectic collection of tunes. Recorded in 2020 at Nashville's Faircraft Studios with an A-list lineup of local musicians, Darren also enlists celebrated artists on the 12-song set. The album is a new entry into the holiday-music canon, both delightfully unpredictable and touched with a timeless sense of Christmas magic.
Todd Almond
A Pony for Christmas
A Pony for Christmas - which masterfully combines folk, rock, pop and theater influences - started as an idea from Todd's mother. "Every year for, oh, twenty-something years, she has asked me to make a Christmas album for her," he remembers. "And every year I haven't done it. Her 70th birthday landed in the middle of the pandemic and I struggled with what to get her that showed just how much I love her. Then one day it hit me. A Christmas album, of course. And there was the inspiration I needed."
Billy Porter
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
The single, long one of Billy's favorite Christmas songs, and produced once again by Justin Tranter, is a festive gift for Billy's fans and a positive message as we approach the holidays. Porter puts an upbeat twist on the bittersweet Christmas standard, joining an impressive list of folks who have covered the classic: Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Luther Vandross, Toni Braxton, Babyface, Phoebe Bridgers, Coldplay, Sam Smith, Christina Aguilera, to name just a few.
Ben Vereen
Both Sides Now
Producer Dan Watt and Tony winner Ben Vereen will donate the proceeds from Ben's new single to the Art Attack Foundations newly formed "Graciela Daniele Dance Scholarship". Says Mr. Vereen, "In these times it is important that we hold the line and support the arts. In this way, our youth, our tomorrow's - will have their dreams fulfilled for all of us."
Lisa Howard
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
The Most Wonderful Time of the Year, a very special collection of seasonal favorites - some things old and some things new - by Broadway singing actress Lisa Howard (It Shoulda Been You, Escape to Margaritaville), is just in time for the holidays! Inspired by her love of Christmas movies, Lisa chose the songs for the album by envisioning that they were the score to any one of her many favorite holiday classics. What arose was an eclectic mix of classic Christmas favorites and modern pop hits. Michael Shaieb arranged and orchestrated the songs with a fresh new take, and the result is a beautifully crafted holiday album that you'll want to listen to over and over.
Morgan James
A Very Magnetic Christmas
Called "the most promising young vocalist to come along so far this century" by The Wall Street Journal, James cemented her passion for classic soul in her 2020 album Memphis Magnetic. And like Memphis Magnetic, "A Very Magnetic Christmas", was recorded live to analog tape at Memphis Magnetic Recording in Tennessee and features several legendary Memphis studio musicians.The resulting ten tracks combine James' soulful take on classics like "O Holy Night," and "White Christmas;" re-imagined favorites like Clarence Carter's spicy "Back Door Santa," and Otis Redding/Lou Rawls' "Merry Christmas Baby"; and three originals, co-written by James and her husband/collaborator/arranger Doug Wamble. James recorded the full album in front of a live studio audience.
Voctave
The Spirit Of The Season
The Spirit of the Season: Deluxe Edition features a wonderfully eclectic and festive set of songs from traditional ("O Holy Night," "Go Tell it on the Mountain") to special arrangements of vintage pop confections from The Carpenters' ("Merry Christmas, Darling") and beyond. Other selections originate from the silver screen, such as a crystalline arrangement of the Meet Me in St. Louis evergreen "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," featuring a lead vocal by Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter Jody McBrayer; the album's title track, originally from the family classic The Polar Express; and "Where are You Christmas?," which Mariah Carey co-wrote for 2000's How the Grinch Stole Christmas. In addition to a stunning solo from Ashley Espinoza, the track features a contribution from her 5-year old son Gael in a joyous family duet.
Darius de Hass
Let Me Carry You This Christmas
Award-winning actor and singer Darius de Haas pays homage to family and holiday traditions with the re-release of his single, written and composed by Emmy-nominated songwriters Thomas Mizer and Curtis Moore ("The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel"), available now across all digital outlets. The highly anticipated song and video is a tribute to people carrying on holiday traditions for loved ones as family dynamics shift. Based on Darius' personal experiences of caretaking for his parents and uncle, this timeless classic highlights the traditions of good times, generosity, kindness, care, and joy for all, even if just in treasured memories. In the year since the song was originally released the heart and message of the song, in recovering from the pandemic and more, is more relevant than ever before.
Zachary James
Wonder and Joy
The 2022 Grammy-nominated opera and Broadway star releases his most ambitious album yet, a 20-track celebration of the holiday season. WONDER AND JOY features James along with some of his closest musical collaborators, including Holly Flack, Bonnie Montgomery (Arkansas Country Music Awards Entertainer of the Year), Jason Nichols, Megan Nielson, and Frederick Poholek.
Need more holiday music? These albums might not be new, but they are still making spirits bright!
Carols for a Cure: Volume 1-21- For over twenty years, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS' holiday CD, Broadway's Carols for a Cure, has been a staple of every theatre-lover's wish list. The beloved series pairs casts from award-winning Broadway musicals with seasonal songs that are both classic and new.
Leslie Odom, Jr.: The Christmas Album- The 10-track album features a collection of beloved traditional favorites together with newly penned, original tracks "Snow" and "Heaven & Earth" that are sure to become instant holiday classics for years to come. Special guests on the album include Cynthia Erivo, Nicolette Robinson, The Mzansi Youth Choir and more!
Idina Menzel: Christmas: A Season of Love- The album features Ariana Grande, Billy Porter, Josh Gad and Idina's husband, Aaron Lohr. Christmas: A Season of Love sparkles with big-band energy, swinging holiday classics and brand-new original songs that will surely live on as part of the holiday season for years to come.
Ana Gasteyer: Sugar & Booze- The 15-track album was produced by New York's Downtown nightclub supernova Julian Fleisher and features original songs written by Gasteyer, such as the modern nostalgic title track "Sugar & Booze" and the cheeky, woke original song with a retro-Cuban beat, "Secret Santa" featuring Maya Rudolph.
Lea Michele: Christmas in the City- Reuniting with Glee songwriters/producers Adam Anders and Peer Astrom, the album features timeless hits like "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," "Silent Night," "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" as well as star-studded collaborators handpicked by Lea, including fellow Glee alum Darren Criss, Spring Awakening costar Jonathan Groff and Broadway favorite Cynthia Erivo.
Randy Rainbow: Hey Girl, It's Christmas- On his debut Christmas album, comedian, singer, and viral star Randy Rainbow puts his signature twist on holiday classics and premieres a brand-new Christmas song (the title track) with music by Marc Shaiman (Hairspray, Smash, Mary Poppins Returns) and lyrics by Randy Rainbow and Shaiman.
The Norm Lewis Christmas Album- The album is an amalgam of selections chosen from song lists that Norm has performed over the last few years at Feinstein's/54 Below in what has now become an annual holiday tradition in midtown, where he has a six night residency at the famed music hot spot.
Barbra Streisand: A Christmas Album- Streisand's first Christmas album and tenth studio album was originally released in 1967. The album is one of Streisand's best-selling albums and is ranked as one of the best-selling Christmas albums of all time.
Linda Eder: Christmas Stays the Same- Released in 2000, tracks include "Ave Maria," "Grown Up Christmas List" composed by David Foster, "O Holy Night," "Do You Hear What I Hear," "Silver & Gold (Medly)" and many more.
Josh Groban: Noël- The fourth studio album by Groban, it was released on October 9, 2007. The album sold 3,699,000 copies in 2007 after its release, making it the overall best-selling album in the US for all of 2007.
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