Review: Daniel Reichard Urges Birdland Audience LET'S CHRISTMAS! With Traditional Holiday Concert

The energy at Birdland on Monday was pure electricity as a completely sold-out house awaited the entrance of Daniel Reichard for his fourteenth annual (ish) Christmas concert, LET'S CHRISTMAS!. After so many years and iterations of the show, it seems unwarranted and unlikely that there should be a review of the program, but since this writer was seeing the (somewhat iconic) holiday production for the first time, it seems ungenerous to take a press seat from Birdland without saying a few words about the experience, one that was, entirely, not what I expected when I sat down at my table. Perhaps what was presented was fully what the rest of the standing-room-only crowd planned to see, which is precisely why they were there. And though the offering was not my own cup of tea, it certainly was theirs.

The first thing that, glaringly, stuck out was that show director (and Reichard's spousal partner in life) Patrick McCollum took to the stage and introduced the evening, an honor usually reserved for Birdland owner Gianni Valenti or Birdland Frontman Jim Caruso. Perhaps this is the way every Daniel Reichard show starts, but to this newcomer to the proceedings, watching a stranger assume the introduction role was, to put it mildly, peculiar. But then, everything that followed Mr. McCollum's opening remarks savored of the unexpected.

Daniel Reichard created a holiday concert this year that is unlike anything ever before witnessed by this cabaret aficionado. It was wild, crazy, manic, with dancing ranging from disco pelvis rolls to (a version of) Irish Step Dance, humor not quite in keeping with the Christmas vibe, abject foolishness on behalf of the leading man, and absolute one hundred percent authenticity. That is why the show works for the former Jersey Boy. For the hour that the Broadway alum was on the Birdland stage, every word he said, every note he sang, every move he made came from a place of living in the light. Mr. Reichard brought himself to the program, declaring that the show was just a chance for him to "act like an a**hole" and though it isn't an elegant expression (and not a very nice thing to say about oneself), it is authentic to Mr. Reichard. Singing everything from "Holly Jolly Christmas" to "The Christmas Song" to a medley of spiritual songs (for the benefit of his mother, who personally requested some music about "the lord"), Mr. Reichard used a beautiful, bright, brassy Broadway belt reminiscent of the greatest belter of all time, Ethel Merman, to commit, fully, to his storytelling. Commitment, indeed, would appear to be Daniel Reichard's watchword. An openly gay man who does not shy from being who he is, Reichard informed his show with his true self, discussing his marriage, the holiday traditions of the McCollum-Reichard home, the place in that home of their late fur-baby, Boscoe, and allowing all of his fabulous flamboyance to flow freely. There was a time, not so very long ago, when a famous Broadway actor might be reluctant to allow their true light to shine so boldly. Happily, thankfully, the world has changed and all queer people have been given the opportunity and the right to be who they are, without fear of either personal or career repercussion. So, like a grown-up, gorgeous version of Hermey The Elf (who we all knew was gay, even as children, before we knew what "gay" was), Daniel Reichard is some kind of mischievous Christmas Elf, destined and determined to spread holiday cheer, in the most demented of fashions, which is precisely what he does and did on Monday night. And if the unbridled mania, the profanity, the mentions of cocaine and penis piercings went a little beyond what this writer was expecting in a Christmas show at Birdland, there is no question that it is what one should plan for at the yearly LET'S CHRISTMAS show. It is on-brand for Daniel Reichard, it is what his audience craves, and it is what he gives them; so there is no critique from this writer about the program, except to say that both Daniel and his guest artist Raena White leaned too heavily on a music stand to prompt them. The clubs have been open since April, this show has been booked for months: the era of artists claiming that the pandemic has affected their ability to adequately prepare for their shows is over. Everyone should have, by now, settled into the new normal, done their homework, learned their shows, and left the music stands, choir binders, and tablets off of the stage. Other than remarking on this disappointing aspect of the Daniel Reichard Christmas show of 2021, the only thing this writer can, honestly, say is that Mr. Reichard should continue doing what he is doing. It, clearly, brings him much joy, and it is, obviously, working for his fans, so fourteen shows in has proven the LET'S CHRISTMAS! formula successful, and it's hard to argue with success.

The LET'S CHRISMAS band were:

Piano and musical director: Kevin David Thomas

Bass: Joseph Wallace

Drums: Daniel Glass

Saxophone: Justin Vance

Trumpet: Jay Webb

Guitar: David Cinquegrana

Find other great shows to see at Birdland HERE.

HERE is the Daniel Reichard website.

Daniel Reichard gets a gets a four out of five microphones rating for the occasional use of a lyric sheet, tablet, or music stand.

Photos by Stephen Mosher

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