What do the teddy bear, the ballpoint pen, the Polaroid Land Camera, Barbie, and just about every Christmas pop standard you’ve ever heard have in common? They’re all the brainchildren of Chosen People like Irving Berlin, whose “White Christmas” is just one of over two dozen seasonal classics that make OY! To The World ~ Christmas With A Twist!, aka “a celebration of your favorite Christmas songs by Jewish songwriters,” a holiday music bonanza at NoHo’s El Portal Theatre.

Co-writers Gregory Thirloway and Maurice Godin, the latter of whom also directs with pizzazz, cleverly string together song after song after song by introducing us to Shelly (Buddy Hackett lookalike Jay Brian Winnick), returning to the winter resort once run by his grandparents (and conveniently haunted by the ghost of pianist Chris, played by music director Gerald Sternbach) in hopes of rekindling past magic with the help of fellow performers Joy (Kelley Dorney), Marcus (Tonoccus McClain), and Becky (Yamuna Meleth).

Now all the foursome have to do is pick which Christmas favorites to sing.

Fortunately for all concerned, song writers like Berlin, Mel Tormé, Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne, Ray Evans and Jay Livingston, and Johnny Marks left behind more than a few perennial favorites, and since Shelly is an expert in holiday song trivia, his costars (and we in the audience) get treated to a veritable crash course in Christmas music lore.

Did you know, for example, that Bob May was inspired to write “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer” after being made fun of because of his larger-than-usual nose?

Or that the very non-secular “Oh Holy Night” was an immediate mid-1800s Paris sensation until the Catholic church found it was written by by an atheist and a Jew?

Or that that Isidore Itzkowitz, the son of Russian Jewish immigrants, was the first singer to make “Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town” a hit? (He was, though under the more famous moniker Eddie Cantor.)

OY! To The World ~ Christmas With A Twist! is far more than a song history lesson, however, its performers scoring plenty of laughs between songs, and never more so than when donning a straw hat left behind by the resort’s resident comedian to deliver the kind of one-liners that made Henny Youngman a legend. (“Chris went into the tailor shop to buy this tuxedo, and he said to the tailor, ‘I don’t need any assistance,” so the tailor said, ‘Suit yourself!’”)

Still, what makes Thirloway and Godin’s World Premiere (a cross between a full-fledged musical and a revue) a spirits-lifting crowd-pleaser are the songs, twenty-seven in all by my count, and the performances delivered by all four OY! To The World stars.

Winnick sells “(There’s No Place Like) Home For The Holidays” and “(I’m Spending) Hanukkah in Santa Monica” like nobody’s business while sprinkling in plenty of Borscht Belt laughs along the way.

Dorney lends her exquisite soprano to “I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day,” “I’ll Be Home For Christmas,” and “Silver Bells,” and drapes herself in white mink to make a sexy Christmas wish to her “Santa Baby.”

A suave McClain gives Nat King Cole a run for his money with “Winter Wonderland” (accompanied by audience finger snaps) and “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.”

Meleth’s rich alto makes “Do You Hear What I Hear?” a heartstrings-tugger, and you’ve never heard “My Favorite Things” sung quite like Meleth does it Bollywood-style.

And speaking of “you’ve never heard it sung this way before,” reversing gender roles in “Baby It’s Cold Outside” (with Yamuna doing her best to keep Tonoccus warm inside) makes the Oscar winner a tad less politically incorrect than it’s become in recent years.

And I still haven’t mentioned such favorite Christmas songs by Jewish songwriters as “A Holly Jolly Christmas,” “We Need A Little A Little Christmas,” “Let It Snow,” “Sleigh Ride,” “The Christmas Waltz,” “It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year,” and “The Christmas Song.”

Sternbach’s musical arrangements and piano artistry shine brightly as does Jeffrey Polk’s lively choreography in a few snappy four-person production numbers.

Shon LeBlanc’s costumes (special snaps for Dorney’s two gorgeous dark green numbers) and Marcia Dios’s set dressing look even better under Fiona Jessup’s lighting design.

OY! To The World ~ Christmas With A Twist! is produced by Pegge Forrest. Darby Symons is assistant producer. Juliet Park is stage manager.

As informative as it is entertaining, and arguably the best “live Christmas album” in town, OY! To The World ~ Christmas With A Twist! is all this, and fabulously performed to boot. If you’re anything like me, you too will have a holly, jolly good time!

The El Portal Theatre, 5269 Lankershim Blvd., North Hollywood.
www.elportaltheatre.com

–Steven Stanley
December 15, 2023
Photo: Margie Barron

Tags: El Portal Theatre, Gregory Thirloway, Los Angeles Theater Review, Maurice Godin