Gay Men's Chorus Of Los Angeles Will Perform A Holiday Homecoming at Royce Hall This Month

Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles (GMCLA) proudly presents A HOLIDAY HOMECOMING, marking its return to live, in-person concerts after a two-year pandemic hiatus. This Los Angeles holiday tradition kicks off GMCLA's Season 43 at UCLA's Royce Hall for two concerts only: Saturday, December 11 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, December 12 at 2:00 p.m. They will perform holiday classics about the joy of coming home, curated from the choral, classical, pop and Broadway canons, featuring special guest stars Telly Leung and Nikki Crawford. Tickets are available at GMCLA.org.

"We are thrilled to be back on stage and at Royce Hall this season," said GMCLA Executive Director & Producer Lou Spisto. "This revered and iconic venue is the perfect setting to reunite with our community. Our members are especially eager to perform these opening concerts, where Music Director & Conductor Ernest H. Harrison will make his long-awaited main series debut. And we are all excited to be joined by two talented artists, Telly Leung and Nikki Crawford, as we do what arts organizations everywhere are doing - bring people together again to experience something beautiful and find some joy this holiday season."

Telly Leung is a New York City native, Broadway performer, recording artist, producer, and theater arts teacher. His Broadway and national touring credits include Aladdin in Disney's Aladdin on Broadway, In Transit, Allegiance (with George Takei & Lea Salonga), Godspell, Rent (final Broadway company), Wicked (Boq, original Chicago company), Pacific Overtures, Flower Drum Song. In 2010, he starred as Angel in Rent at the Hollywood Bowl opposite Wayne Brady, directed by Neil Patrick Harris. Regionally, he's performed at Philadelphia Theater Company, Pittsburgh CLO, The St. Louis MUNY, Dallas Theater Center, The Shakespeare Theater Company in D.C., North Carolina Theater, and North Shore Musical Theater. Television audiences will remember him as Wes the Warbler on "Glee," as well as his guest star appearances on "Instinct," "Odd Mom Out," "Deadbeat" and "Law and Order: Criminal Intent." Telly is featured as a coach for the Jimmy Awards in the PBS documentary, "Broadway or Bust." He can be heard on many original Broadway cast recordings and has released two solo albums - I'll Cover You (2012) and Songs for You (2016) - on The Yellow Sound Label. His EP, "You Matter" is a collection of five songs made during the 2020 pandemic with composer and arranger Gary Adler and profits will benefit Broadway Cares / Equity Fights AIDS. He holds a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University's School of Drama. He has taught master classes and courses at American universities like NYU, Nazareth College, The University of Michigan, Carnegie Mellon and Point Park and has been a guest teacher at drama programs all over the world, from Edinburgh to Tokyo. His producing credits include the concert series "Broadway Back Together," the musical short film Grind (starring Anthony Rapp) and "The Nice List," a virtual holiday musical for the whole family.

Nikki Crawford's most recent credits include guest starring roles on "NCIS Los Angeles" as Captain Emily Carnes; "United States of Al" as Barbara Anderson; "NCIS" as Dr. Shawna Street and Netflix's "Selena: The Series" as Tina Knowles. Some of her theatre credits include: Beverly in the Pulitzer Prize winning play, Fairview at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre; Lena Horne in Stormy Weather at The Pasadena Playhouse (NAACP Best Actress Theatre Award winner and LA Ovation Best Featured Actress nomination); the Lady of the Lake in the first Las Vegas company of Spamalot (named Vegas Showstopper of the Year); Aldonza in Man of La Mancha at La Mirada Theatre; Ronnie in Immediate Family at the Mark Taper Forum; Julie in Showboat at Sacramento Music Circus; Lady Liv in Play On! at Arena Stage (Helen Hayes Award Best Supporting Actress nom). In 2022, Nikki will be starring along with Nora Dunn in Chicago's Steppenwolf production of The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington.

A Holiday Homecoming will be presented Saturday, December 11 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, December 12 at 2:00 p.m. at UCLA's Royce Hall: 340 Royce Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90095. Tickets are available at GMCLA.orgstarting at $25. For more information on Royce Hall, go to RoyceHall.org/visit.

For the safety of all artists, audiences and staff, Royce Hall is currently seating at 50% capacity of the house per event to ensure social distancing. All patrons who attend a performance at Royce Hall will be required to either be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and present proof of vaccination or provide proof of the negative results of a COVID-19 PCR test taken within 72 hours of entering the venue. Masks are required to be always worn during a performance.

GMCLA continues its season at Royce Hall with QUEEN OF THE NIGHT on April 2-3, 2022, performing the greatesthits from the iconic band Queen and its flamboyant frontman, Freddie Mercury. They'll add a sprinkling of gorgeous arias for a mash-up of rock and over-the-top opera that will surely be a GMCLA concert for the ages.

The season concludes with a milestone event, TAKING FLIGHT, on August 13-14, 2022, featuring a GMCLA co-commission and Los Angeles Premiere, Songs of the Phoenix. This major new work was curated by Grammy and Tony-nominated composer Andrew Lippa (I Am Harvey Milk) and written by 13 diverse and talented lyricists and composers, including legends Stephen Schwartz and Stephen Sondheim. The Chorus also performs additional music from the world of musical theatre and contemporary composers. Songs of the Phoenix celebrates the beauty of the fight - it's about heart, the return of laughter, light, and the lifting of voices. QUEEN OF THE NIGHT and TAKING FLIGHT are currently available by subscription only at GMCLA.org. Special guest artists for both concerts will be announced at a later date.

A digital streaming presentation of A Holiday Homecoming will be available soon after the live performances. Visit GMCLA.org for more details.

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