Review: THE RANDY ANDYS HOLIDAY SPECTACULAR at The Green Room 42 Offers Cheer

There was plenty of old-fashioned fun at the Randy Andy’s Holiday Spectacular. The trio’s show at the Green Room 42 on Thursday December 19th featured plenty of special guests, song, dance and enough laughter and holiday cheer to keep you warm all through New Year’s. The Randy Andy trio consists of Alicia Charles (Aladdin), Heather Parcells (A Chorus Line), and founder Alison Mahoney (The Singing Baker). Clad in matching red and black outfits with festive hair bows and dangly earrings, they charmed their way throughout the night, singing a mix of contemporary and traditional holiday classics, ranging from “Dominic the Donkey” all the way to “All I Want for Christmas Is You.” The group was designed to bring the Andrews Sisters sound into the modern era, and the show mostly channeled that sweet, innocent, high-energy spirit. They were backed by the wonderful Matt Everingham Trio.

The special guests were fantastic. Donna Lynne Champlin (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) sang a pure, perfect, sincere “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” Randall Holloway and Jordan Fife Hunt did a hilarious gender-swapped “Sisters” (White Christmas). Natalie Weiss and David Perlman had the crowd in stitches with a lip-syncing bit that was both technically impressive and very, very funny (I won’t spoil it, but it involved Perlman “teaching” Weiss how to do riffs correctly). Randy Andy’s swing Sophia Patterson (making her NYC debut!) and Daniel Schwait dueted on a high-energy “Sleigh Ride.”

From start to finish, the show was nonstop fun. The mellifluous “Andrews Sisters” style recasts even songs you might already be familiar with in a novel way. My friend and I were particularly delighted to hear “The Dreidel Song” done up that way, with the trio gathered around a single microphone. It’s a little ridiculous to hear it elevated in that style, with arrangements that beget a kind of seriousness you would think a song like that maybe doesn’t deserve, but the Randy Andy’s manage to balance both at once. Yes, it’s a little ridiculous, but why shouldn’t we take these songs seriously? They made me stop and consider that “The Dreidel Song” actually has a lovely melody. The show, directed by Antoinette DiPietropolo (Cirque Musica), was very well rehearsed and ran smoothly. The Andy’s had simple but effective choreography in the style of the Andrews Sisters (perhaps a hair more risqué for modern audiences, but nothing scandalous). The evening ended in a birthday celebration for Jordan Fife Hunt, Alicia Charles, and Daneil Schwait, each of whom had a birthday that week, followed by a fun and cheery “White Christmas,” with all of the guest performers joining on stage to sing along. The audience was invited to join in too. Overall, the show provided a light-hearted evening a little bit different than most other Christmas shows, basked in a cheery glow. I'm sure everyone that was in the audience left with a smile in their heart.

For more on the Randy Andy’s, read a conversation with the group’s founder Alison Mahoney. 

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Follow the Randy Andy’s on Instagram @TheRandyAndys to learn when and where they’ll be performing next.

Find more upcoming shows at the Green Room 42 on their website.

All photos by Celina James

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