BWW Blog: Your New Christmas Anthem, Courtesy of John Mulaney

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, meaning it's basically Christmas. Time to hang up the decorations and crank the stereo to 11 as we listen to our favorite Christmas songs. My family, for example, has listened to Pentatonix's album That's Christmas to Me during every holiday season since its release in 2014. I think at this point it's become this mandatory thing that we do. I know for sure we'll be listening to an a cappella rendition of "Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" at full volume at some point in the next week or so.

There is, however, a new Christmas album coming out next week that I am looking forward to hearing, and I can't wait to force my entire family to listen to it in the car (to my parents, if you're reading this: I'm sorry).

A new album from Anaïs Mitchell and the Broadway cast of Hadestown, titled If The Fates Allow: A Hadestown Holiday Album, is set to be released on November 20. The album will feature classic holiday favorites, as well as new songs written by Mitchell, Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer, and Liam Robinson. 14 tracks, all in the same style as the songs from the award-winning musical? I'm sold.

Unfortunately we still have another week until the album comes out. But that doesn't mean we can't start getting ourselves into the holiday spirit now, does it?

I thought about using this article to list off some Christmas songs from Broadway musicals for people to check out, but for some reason I really don't know that many. As I tried to think of some, one came to mind. It's a very fast-paced and funny song that takes place at the holidays; it even features bits and pieces of beloved Christmas carols. The funny thing is that, while this song is from a musical... the musical that it's from doesn't actually exist.

Confused? Forgive me. I can explain.

Back in early 2019, a new episode of IFC's Documentary Now! aired on TV, which parodied D.A. Pennebaker's making-of documentary Original Cast Album: Company. The episode was called "Original Cast Album: Co-Op", and it followed the stars and creators of a critically unsuccessful Broadway musical over the course of a hectic 24-hour long recording session.

"Original Cast Album: Co-Op" features songs penned by John Mulaney and Seth Meyers, as well as appearances by Broadway stars like Richard Kind, Renée Elise Goldsberry, and Alex Brightman. The writing is just as hilarious and witty as you could expect from two former SNL writers, but the music featured in the episode is surprisingly catchy. It was catchy enough that Mulaney and Meyers earned an Emmy nomination for their lyrics.

I'm probably taking too long to get to the point of all of this. You're probably wondering what any of this has to do with Christmas. Well, the song Mulaney and Meyers received their Emmy nomination for is the one I was talking about before.

The song is about a pretty wild night at a Christmas party in the co-op, and features both Alex Brightman and Renée Elise Goldsberry in a hilarious and fast-paced duet. It's called "Holiday Party (I Did a Little Cocaine Tonight)", and it's probably better than any Christmas song you grew up singing, so you might as well throw out all your old holiday records because none of them can compare to Broadway's own Alex Brightman singing a song about doing cocaine at his neighbor's Christmas party.

"White Christmas"? This song brings a whole new meaning to the term.

I know, I know. It's not A real BROADWAY musical number. It's not even a typical Christmas song. But it's a hilarious song, nonetheless, and one I felt like sharing since I don't really know many Christmas songs from Broadway musicals. If you like musical theatre and you like comedy, I think it's worth a listen. It'll give you and your family something to laugh about while you're at home for the holidays. In fact, give the whole episode a watch. It's full of great songs and a whole lotta laughs.

You can find Documentary Now! on Netflix, and you can buy or stream the Co-Op cast album anywhere music is sold.

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