Review: MACK & POPPY: LET IT SNOW! A Must See for Holiday Laughter (and Tears)!

MACK & POPPY: LET IT SNOW!/ conceived & written by Tod Macofsky & Christopher Graham/musical direction by John Randall/The Cavern Club @ Casita Del Campo/thru November 29, 2015

If you go to MACK & POPPY: LET IT SNOW expecting just a cheesy lounge act for fluffy amusement, you would be selling Mack & Poppy way short. Tod Macofsky (aka Mack Diamond) and Christopher Graham (aka Poppy Fields) have created a fine tuned act of calibrated cheese eliciting many hearty laughs accented with actual solid vocal chops presenting songs straight up for a most entertaining 70 minutes. Holiday tunes (Christmas, Jewish and Kwanzaa) get both sent up and sung straight. Both Macofsky and Graham possess the melodic able vocal pipes to deliver both methods most successfully. Macofksy's strong vocals get exhibited in "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire." Close your eyes and Graham's silky voice sounds just like Karen Carpenter's in "Merry Christmas, Darling."

Since both Mack & Poppy don't find any Jewish holiday songs to their liking, they re-write, er, pay tribute to the songs of a famed Jewess--Streisand. "Papa, Can You Hear Me," becomes "Poppy, Can You Hear Me." "My Man" morphs into "My Jew." "You Don't Bring Me Flowers" transforms into "You Don't Bring Me Latkas." All so, so Hi.lar.i.ous, Macofsky & Graham!!!

And in another take on what Christmas means to Mack & Poppy... let's just say it involves Crisco, and it's not for baking.

A fun added visual were the frequent entrances of muscle-bound, barely-clad Fernando. How Israel Zamora managed to keep a straight face performing Fernando's rhythm-challenged bumps and grinds' way beyond me. Zamora nailed his male eye candy Fernando intentionally stealing focus from both Mack & Poppy each time he appeared.

Musical direction, arrangements and amazing synthesizer accompaniments were deftfully provided by John Randall (aka Jack Cheddar), a one-man orchestra. Randall took his very lovely solo moment to shine nimbly playing a tender suite of Vince Guaraldi's singular "A Charlie Brown Christmas" instrumentals.

Macofsky & Graham with Randall have got their wonderful chemistry, comic timing and musical stylings down pat. Nice updated reference to Trump and Starbucks.

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