Holiday cheers bring nostalgic feel

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - In a season brimming with live holiday extravaganzas and performances, Toby’s Baltimore Dinner Theatre’s production of “Holiday Hot Nostalgia” puts a unique spin on the ubiquitous musical review.

“This is a holiday party and you are our guests,” bellows Master of Ceremonies, Dan McDonald from the stage. “Feel free to sing along.”

The invitation doesn't fall on deaf ears. 

A full house of party-goers prepares to participate in a show whose program notes reveal only “1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.”

Once the house lights dim, all present, except for the very young, get the rhyme and reason of it.

Five couples, in long coats, fur earmuffs and stocking caps, glide onto the stage to the strains of “Winter Wonderland”. 

From that point of contact, the boundless energy from 10 of Toby’s most frequent performers connect, not just with the audience, but with the times and places familiar now only in old movies.

Their songs and dances illustrate, at whirlwind pace and in flashes of sequins, how both the secular songs and holiday music we have come to call American classics were born of — and woven into — the fabric of each decade's joys and struggles.

Under an on-stage arch, lighted with the soft glow of Wurlitzer-like neon, the lively band trumpets the tunes of the swinging 1940's while the cast, garbed in military uniform perform hits like Boogie-Woogie Bugle Boy”. 

As quickly as the onset of World War II, the mood shifts to the sad longing of friends and family at the holidays. 

McDonald’s heartfelt rendition of “I'll Be Seeing You” and “I'll Be Home for Christmas” elicited sniffles from a waning generation who felt that same longing. 

And so it goes through the ensuing decades. 

Tables cheer “Jailhouse Rock” and “Blue Christmas” from the 50s, Alvin and the Chipmunks of the 60s and Jose Feliciano’s 70’s hit “Feliz Navidad”.

Musical reviews rife with walks down memory lane can be a lot like history books — some chapters are simply more appealing than others. 

Toby’s nostalgic review bursts forth with the five of the best chapters — and musical decades. 

IF YOU GO

“Holiday Hot Nostalgia”

WHERE: Toby’s Baltimore Dinner Theatre, 5625 O’Donnell St., Baltimore

WHEN:  Now through Jan. 6

TICKETS: $30 to $49.25

INFO: 410-649-1660 for show times and group sales