A holiday tradition that blends a classic oratorio with Detroit musical genres, everything from jazz and gospel to blues and swing, returns to the Detroit\u2026<\/b>
\nA holiday tradition that blends a classic oratorio with Detroit musical genres, everything from jazz and gospel to blues and swing, returns to the Detroit Opera House for a single performance this weekend.
\u201cToo Hot To Handel,\u201d a jazz-gospel version of Handel\u2019s \u201cMessiah,\u201d brings more than 120 musicians to the stage Saturday, including 85 members of the Rackham Choir, some members of the Michigan Opera Theatre Orchestra, and tenor Rodrick Dixon, formerly of the \u201cThree Mo\u2019 Tenors,\u201d soprano Alfreda Burke, and alto Karen Marie Richardson.
\u201c\u2019Too Hot to Handel\u2019 is a truly unique Detroit experience bringing together the music and soul the city is known for,\u201d says Suzanne Mallare Acton, music director of the show, which marks its 17th season in the Motor City.
With its many musical styles, \u201cToo Hot To Handel\u201d is accessible to everyone. It\u2019s not just classical music, Acton says, but also jazz, gospel, rock and funk. Listen closely and you might also hear some reggae, she notes. The audience is frequently up clapping, dancing and \u201cdoing all kinds of stuff,\u201d she says.
\u201cThey say music is food for the soul, and in \u2018Too Hot To Handel,\u2019 it is a soul-stirring, hand-clapping event that ignites the stage and the audience,\u201d says Acton, who is also director of the Rackham Choir (considered Detroit\u2019s longest continuously existing choir, dating from 1949).
\u201cIt engages people of all ages, all faiths and all ethnic groups. \u2018Too Hot To Handel\u2019 is uplifting, energetic and is the perfect way to being the holiday celebrations.\u201d
The contemporary, energetic interpretation of Handel\u2019s Messiah premiered at the Lincoln Center in New York in 1993. The late 20th-century version was commissioned by Marin Alsop and orchestrated by Robert Christianson and Gary Anderson. George Frideric Handel composed \u201cMessiah\u201d more than 270 years ago.
Acton was instrumental in bringing \u201cToo Hot To Handel\u201d to Detroit. She was convinced, after seeing a production in New York, that such a lively, joyous version would be received enthusiastically in music-loving Detroit.
Detroit\u2019s version premiered at the Little Rock Baptist Church in March 2001 and was a success from the get-go. \u201cToo Hot To Handel,\u201d with the Rackham Choir and host of other musicians, debuted at the Detroit Opera House the following December. It\u2019s been performed there ever since.
For those who have seen \u201cToo Hot To Handel\u201d before, Acton says there is always something new and fresh every season.
\u201cEvery time we perform \u2018Too Hot To Handel,\u2019 it is fresh and new,\u201d she says. \u201cEven two nights in a row, the show is different. The performance creates a synergy between the performers on stage and the audience.\u201d
Joining other musicians on stage are the Too Hot Trio, Marion Hayden, Alvin Waddles and Dave Taylor, as well as a full roster of some of Detroit\u2019s best jazz musicians including Chris Collins, Al Ayoub, Fred Hughes, James Simonson, Walter White, Vincent Chandler, and James Hughes. Like at a jazz session, the audience can expect extemporaneous solos from the artists.
Following Detroit\u2019s performance, members of the choir and the production will return to Chicago, where \u201cToo Hot To Handel\u201d will be staged for the 14th time in January, as part of a Martin Luther King celebration. The ensemble performed \u201cToo Hot To Handel\u201d for the first time in Memphis last spring.
\u201cThe response has been truly overwhelming,\u201d Acton says. \u201cWhen we get to the Hallelujah Chorus, you hear a roar from the audience that is indescribable.\u201d
Drew Gale, a baritone who has been with the Rackham Choir since the 2012-2013 season, was among the members at the Memphis debut.
\u201cThe audience was very reserved for maybe the first few songs, but after that, they were rocking and rolling just like the audiences in Detroit and Chicago,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was really awesome to be able to experience that transition and reaction from a new audience. No matter what city we are in, the crowd loves it and goes wild for the show.\u201d
For both Anton and Gale, who first performed \u201cToo Hot To Handle\u201d in 2012, the highlights of the production are many, but their mutual hope is that the audience kicks back and embraces the music and the energy.
\u201c I just want them to feel good,\u201d Gale says. \u201cNo matter what is going on in life, or the world for that matter, I just want the audience to forget it all for 2 hours and sit and watch this beautiful show and be reminded that we are all the same no matter where we come from, or what we do, or who we love.
\u201cI think in a time where there is so much division, and when mental illness is more so affecting those around us, this show is the perfect thing for us all to recharge, be rejuvenated and be reminded of all the good there is in the world.\u201d
Greg Tasker is a Michigan-based freelance writer.
\u2018Too Hot To Handel\u2019
7:30 p.m. Sat.
Detroit Opera House
1526 Broadway, Detroit
Tickets: $33-$73
(313) 237-7464
MichiganOpera.org
*Note: Suzanne Mallare Acton and select performers will give a special pre-show talk at the Detroit Opera House beginning at 6:30 p.m., one hour before the performance.<\/p>\n