A holiday show for the “mishpocha” (and everyone else)
Featuring bassist Jordan O’Connor, pianist Peter Hill, special guest Whitney Ross-Barris plus members of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir
White Christmas. Let it Snow. Baby It’s Cold Outside. Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer. What do these popular Christmas songs have in common (aside from driving you crazy while you do your Christmas shopping)? Some of the most popular Christmas songs of all time (5 of the top 10, according to ASCAP) were written by Jewish songwriters like Irving Berlin, Sammy Cahn, Jule Styne, Frank Loesser, and Johnny Marks.
This holiday season, Toronto jazz singer Sam Broverman will again explore and celebrate what it means to be a “Jewish boy” at Christmas time (last year’s show was sold out). In A Jewish Boy’s Christmas, Sam recalls his own experiences as a Jewish boy in the very ethnically mixed north end of Winnipeg, and ties them to the Jewish influence on the Great American Christmas songbook in stories and songs, with a few surprises.
With Jordan O’Connor on bass, Peter Hill on piano, and guest singer Whitney Ross-Barris (of whom Sam will ask the musical question Can I Interest You In Hannukah?; be there to hear her answer), plus a special appearance by members of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. A Jewish Boy’s Christmas promises to be a hilarious and touching holiday night out whether you celebrate Christmas or Hannukah…or none of the above! Here is a clip from last year’s show in which Sam explains, in song, how to speak Yiddish: You’re Speaking Yiddish.
More about Sam: Sam Broverman is a Toronto based jazz singer and songwriter, as well as a professor of Actuarial Mathematics at the University of Toronto. He has performed in Winnipeg, Vancouver, New York and Hong Kong, and he regularly performs in jazz venues around Toronto. He began his professional singing career in Winnipeg at the age of 19, appearing in theatre and cabaret productions as well as on nationally televised music and variety shows, including Hymn Sing and The Doug Crosley Show. Sam has sung with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir since moving to Toronto.